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INSPECTION POINT FOR LIVE ANIMALS
Animal Centre Hoek van Holland Inspection point for live animals arriving from the UK Whereas the inspection of live animals arriving in our country via air at Schiphol is commonplace, this was not the case in the port of Rotterdam. That is, until January 2021, when Brexit became a fact. Then Animal Centre Hoek van Holland opened its doors on the Stena Line site. Cargo Magazine asked initiators Edwin Hofstede and Floris de Haan what had motivated them to establish the inspection point precisely there.
Text Esther Kort-Boreas Photo Animal Centre
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dwin: “I got to know Floris when he was employed in the Cargo division of Schiphol airport. In 2012, as an independent consultant, he helped me set up the livestock inspection point at Schiphol in the former El Al warehouse at dnata. We worked so well together that when the question arose of establishing an inspection point in Hoek van Holland, we joined forces. Besides Calais, the Animal Centre Hoek van Holland is the only inspection point at a North Sea port.”
Floris: “The request from Stena Line to set up an inspection centre on their site came in October 2020; a request relating to Brexit. With effect from 1 January 2021 it became compulsory for all live animals entering the EU from the UK to have a veterinary inspection. In just three months, in close cooperation with both Stena Line and the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA), we set up the inspection centre, equipped it, documented all processes and, with the NVWA, arranged all necessary licences. Veterinarians from the NVWA carry out the inspections.”
Stena Line operates the Harwich-Hoek van Holland route twice a day and the Killingholme-Hoek van Holland route once a day. Live animals entering our country on board Stena Line are accompanied by drivers - this is not always the case with goods being transported across the North Sea. Stena Line is the only shipping company offering this type of transport between England and Rotterdam. Therefore, the partnership with Stena Line was a logical choice. The time spent on the ship is a rest period for the drivers. Sometimes the Netherlands is not the animals’ final destination and the chauffeur must, after arrival and inspection, drive to another country either in or outside the EU. The Animal Centre Hoek van Holland is currently an inspection point for: • Insects • Day-old chicks • Hatching eggs • Invertebrates • Horses The Animal Centre has two separate facilities available for these types of animals. In the future the list of animal species will be extended.
More information T: +31 (0)10 3023 416 E: AC-HVH@ecsams.nl www.ac-hvh.nl Stationsweg 10 3151 HS Hoek van Holland
Cargo Magazine
