The Secretary of State for Territorial Policy, Arcadi Spain, visited this morning the Border Control Post (PCF) of the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, which has received a total of 6,000 tons during the purposes of which it has provided the Plant Health Inspection service.
Thus, since April 2024, this PCF has inspected a total of 310 containers on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, which have involved 613 phytosanitary inspections. It mainly receives very perishable merchandise (such as fresh fruit and vegetables) that is later distributed in the supermarkets of the island.
The Government of Spain has thus met the demands made since 2022 by the distribution sector on the island, with a reinforcement of personnel for the border inspection service and adapting the PCF of Santa Cruz de Tenerife to the current needs of freight traffic.
“The Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, committed to strengthening the staff of the Border Control Post of the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, especially of Plant Health, and has complied with this demand,” said the Secretary of State, Arcadi Spain.
He also stressed that, during the working meeting held this morning with operators, representatives of the Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the PCF, from the Government of Spain “we have committed to continue improving and expanding the workforce, so that more operators and more fresh merchandise can reach the island on weekends”, which will generate “more competitiveness, more employment and will guarantee that the products reach the citizens on equal terms to the rest of the country”.
New organizational model in sanitary inspection at border
In addition, this week a new organisational model is also activated in the border health inspection in ports throughout the country, following the favourable outcome of the pilot projects developed at the Border Control Posts in Algeciras and Barcelona.
This new health control system, defined in Ministerial Order 756/2024 as a result of intense work by the competent ministries (Agriculture, Health and Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory), involves the unification of veterinary action, the elimination of duplications in the inspection process and the simplification of procedures. In this way, greater efficiency and effectiveness are guaranteed, while ensuring the necessary rigor in the inspection performance.
This organizational change is the starting point of new actions that will be developed, framed in the process of modernization of the PCF of our country to favor the competitiveness of our ports.