Ashford Port Health Authority, based at the Sevington Border Control Post in Kent, said the new technology will automate the initial screening of import documents, while official control charges will be held at current levels for the 2026/27 financial year.
The council says the new system will take over the first stage of import document checks by automatically extracting information from paperwork and running initial compliance checks.
It describes Sevington as the first UK site to fully automate this initial step. The authority argues the change improves speed and consistency, and says the productivity gains help explain why charges can be frozen without cutting service levels.
For operators, the risk is not abstract. Loads involving controlled goods can be delayed, even without a physical inspection, if the documents are incomplete, inconsistent, or incorrectly prepared.
In practice, faster screening can cut the time it takes for problems to surface — but it can also mean less “human slack” for minor errors. That matters most in food supply chains, where arrival windows, temperature control and driver hours often leave little room for disruption.
The authority says its work covers products of animal origin (POAO), high-risk food and feed of non-animal origin (HRFNAO), organic goods, and other regulated imports.
Ashford Borough Council says the technology was developed with Salesforce Ltd and Cospire Technologies, following a period of work at Sevington to map how checks are carried out and convert that into an automated workflow.
