The British Ports Association (BPA) has warned of potential disruption after the UK government appeared to drop its aspirations towards "frictionless" trade post-Brexit.
It was responding to leaked details of Thursday's declaration on the future relationship between the UK and the EU if the country leaves the bloc in March next year.
BPA chief executive Richard Ballantyne said the association had been supportive of UK prime minister Theresa May's so-called Chequers proposal as it committed to an agreement that ensured frictionless trade.
"This was to be achieved by agreeing a common rulebook with the EU, meaning there would be little or no need for new cumbersome regulatory checks at ports – particularly at ro-ro ports such as Dover, Holyhead, Immingham and Portsmouth, where vehicles and trailers flow freely through with minimal or no stoppages," he added.
"The proposals in this agreement appear to offer no guarantees that some new border checks could be introduced on UK-EU trade flows.
"Whilst there is some encouraging language around minimising trade barriers and agreeing common principles, it falls short of committing to frictionless trade and could therefore cause potential disruption for some parts of the ports industry.”
The BPA pointed to a paragraph in the new agreement that states the UK and the EU “should treat one another as single entities as regards SPS [sanitary and phytosanitary] measures”.
This means that they would need to undertake physical checks and inspections on products of plant and animal origin at the border, it said.
"These checks are time consuming and bureaucratic and could cause significant disruption at roll-on roll-off ferry ports," it added.
