Jump to content

  • Quick Navigation
Photo

Migrants in container with products

Share this

  • You cannot start a new topic
  • Please log in to reply
3 replies to this topic
- - - - -

Whitney

    Grade - AIFSQN

  • IFSQN Associate
  • 43 posts
  • 2 thanks
2
Neutral

  • United Kingdom
    United Kingdom

Posted 14 August 2015 - 09:26 AM

Hi Everyone

 

I am not sure if this is the correct topic or not but I am looking for some advice.....

 

Does anyone one know if any of the retailers including Morrisons, Sainbury's, Coop etc have a policy or anything with regards to migrants being in containers with food products? For example if our product was being shipped and the container was opened there were migrants in there, would the products need to be disposed of?

 

Many thanks in advance for any advice you can give!

 

Kindest regards

 

W

 



MWidra

    Grade - PIFSQN

  • IFSQN Principal
  • 778 posts
  • 314 thanks
143
Excellent

  • United States
    United States
  • Gender:Female
  • Location:On the Beautiful Eastern Shore of MD
  • Interests:My Dogs (Beagles),Gardening, SciFi, Video Games (WoW, D3, HoS, PvZ), Classical Music, Legal Stuff, Science Stuff. I'm a Geeky Nerd.

Posted 14 August 2015 - 04:41 PM

Although this is not a laughing matter, it is something that I have never seen before.   A lot of it would depend on what kind of food it is, how the food is packaged, and if the rise in temperature due to body heat of the migrants could change the food materials.  Of course, then there's the question of how long were they near the food, do they have any diseases, and the issue of human waste.  It's not just the people, it's what they produce that could be a problem.

 

I would suggest that at the least, a risk analysis should be performed and initiating more strict security measures like sealing containers would be wise if the partial load will be traveling partly empty.  The best way to know if the retailers have a policy would be to ask them.  If this has not happened to you as yet, stating that you are only being proactive based on recent events would turn it into a plus, because you are showing that you are on top of things.  If it has happened to you, then you should definitely discuss the situation with your customers.  Candor is always better than hiding things.

 

It is a sad commentary on our times that people are so desperate to find a better place, that they resort to life threatening measures to accomplish it.  It shows that human determination will find a way.  Maybe we should apply some of that determination to solving the world's problems so people don't have to do this.  But, I digress. Sorry for the "bunny trail."

 

Bottom line, I would suggest that you just ask them.

 

Martha


"...everything can be taken from a man but one thing:  the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."  Viktor E. Frankl

 

"Life's like a movie, write your own ending."  The Muppets


Thanked by 1 Member:

FSQNNow

    Grade - AIFSQN

  • IFSQN Associate
  • 34 posts
  • 13 thanks
3
Neutral

  • Earth
    Earth
  • Gender:Male

Posted 17 August 2015 - 04:42 PM

I am not sure that you want to make this an issue for your customer. It is your issue.

 

This problem is actually at least 10 years old. At that stage we also had many thousands of migrants in Calais and breaking into trucks to get into the UK was the favorite thing to do. Especially at all the parkings around Calais where truckers were having their coffee of stopping for the night.

Food products might no longer be food safe once they have had the risk to be "tampered" with.

A lot of the risk factors were already mentioned above.

I have seen a few "tampered" trucks 10 years ago and these became insurance claims (at a minimum with partial write offs, or full write offs)

These were chilled products and we could show that the cooling units had been blocked (and the temperature graphs showed this as well). Also we could find evidence of wet pallets, likely to be urine. some product has also been opened and consumed. These trucks were diverted to an area where they could be inspected and handled with an insurance agent and a solution could be worked out.

Also think of food defense.

 

Make sure that you not only have numbered/unique seals on the lorry/truck, but also that they are properly locked, as a prevention that migrants can get access to your truck. Before entering and during stay in the port loading area make sure you check your seal and lock.  (the port authority might also scan you with Infrared). If you find an issue, report immediately and wait for instruction before continuing the journey.

The UK has this leaflet: https://www.gov.uk/g...rry-leaflet.pdf or the older version that was maybe better http://www.trucker.d...t June 2010.pdf. Both have good advice that your truckers should be trained on and made vigilant.

https://www.gov.uk/g...urity-checklist  (also for your truck drivers in different languages)

 

Example of lock: http://www.transport...uard-locks.html  (also helps to let them look for another truck instead of yours...)

 

Keep Food Safe!



Thanked by 1 Member:

MWidra

    Grade - PIFSQN

  • IFSQN Principal
  • 778 posts
  • 314 thanks
143
Excellent

  • United States
    United States
  • Gender:Female
  • Location:On the Beautiful Eastern Shore of MD
  • Interests:My Dogs (Beagles),Gardening, SciFi, Video Games (WoW, D3, HoS, PvZ), Classical Music, Legal Stuff, Science Stuff. I'm a Geeky Nerd.

Posted 17 August 2015 - 06:30 PM

Excellent post, FSQNNow.  I knew the problem has existed in the UK, but not to that extent.

 

The security locks are great.  Thanks for sharing and for the detailed reply.

 

The OP wanted to know if there were standards available from specific retailers, so that prompted me to say to ask them.  Your advice is fantastic and relevant to anyone who finds themselves in this situation, whether standards exist or not.

 

I would add that photographing all trailers before they leave your site is prudent to prove that you took precautions against any kind of tampering.  We photograph the loads at predetermined stages during the loading.  It has proven that we loaded the product correctly, in a way that should not have been damaged due to normal transport rigors.  It only takes a second to do this with a cell phone, but I think it is worthwhile.

 

Martha


"...everything can be taken from a man but one thing:  the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."  Viktor E. Frankl

 

"Life's like a movie, write your own ending."  The Muppets




Share this

0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users