"No-deal Brexit: Drug supply plans not yet clear"
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Medical and pharmaceutical industry leaders are warning some of the contingency planning for a no-deal Brexit is not as well advanced as it was earlier this year.
They say details of government plans to secure ferry capacity to bring medicines into the UK have still not been finalised - with less than six weeks to go till Britain's planned exit from the EU on 31 October."
There have been predictions that a no deal Brexit will cause congestion at the ports of Dover and Calais. 90% of imported drugs and medicines from the EU are shipped to the UK on that route.
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Steve Bates, the chief executive of the UK Bioindustry Association, says he is concerned that, with only weeks to go, companies don't know what they can book to bring supplies across the Channel.
He said: "Last time around, before the last no-deal deadline, we knew in advance the alternative routes, we knew where the ferries were.
"This time around….the industry doesn't know which ports will be available, it doesn't know which ferries will be available."
Mr Bates added that extensive planning for most contingencies had taken place with the industry in partnership with the government and there was a "robust system".
But he said the process of moving medicines across borders was not clear in a no-deal scenario.
Alan Boyd, of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, said no deal was a "serious threat".
I find it concerning and worrying that these people who are not hysterical scare mongers have genuine concerns.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-49770584