Boris Johnson will order a delay again in the application of post-Brexit border checks on goods imported into the UK from the EU, acknowledging that piling up new costs on imports will make exacerbated the cost of living crisis.
Full checks on imports from the bloc are supposed to come into force on July 1, but the prime minister has sided with the Tory right, who see Brexit as an opportunity to cut red tape at the border. gender.
Johnson’s allies say it is “inevitable” that the test will delayed again – for the fourth time since the end of the Brexit transition period in December 2020. There is direct debate about the length of any new grace period.
The Prime Minister has signaled about switching to visit India. He told reporters: “I generally support minimal conflict in all relations between the UK and the EU.
“New technology will make some of the checks we use obsolete.” It is related to the government’s promise to create the “world’s most efficient frontier” by 2025.
Johnson’s allies confirm an option being considered by ministers – and promoted by the likes of Brexit Opportunity Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg – is to withhold new tests until the systems are in place. The new border system is applied.
A colleague of the Prime Minister said: “Now is not the time to raise new costs for companies. That means EU goods will enter the UK market with minimal inspection for years after Britain leaves the bloc.
Critics of Brexit have noted the irony that UK exporters now face border costs when selling into the EU, while their counterparts in mainland Europe bring in goods. their crossing the UK border with only lax checks.
Goods coming from the EU are not required to declare safety and security, while food and plant products are not physically inspected.
Rees-Mogg and former Brexit Secretary Lord David Frost have urged Johnson to extend the “grace period” of border checks, which has been welcomed by companies relying on pan-European supply chains.
But it was controversial within the government when industry executives reported that both the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for International Trade were initially against a fourth delay.
Agro-industry groups have widely welcomed the move, given the increased pressure on supply chains caused by the Ukraine crisis.
Dominic Goudie, head of international trade at the Federation of Food and Beverages, says that Ukraine is causing shortages of ingredients and increasing costs in the food and beverage industry, with wheat, sunflower oil and Whitefish are particularly affected.
Nick Allen, chief executive of the UK Meat Processors Association, added that the decision to delay testing again came as no surprise, given that not all government systems and locations will be fully ready by July. “On balance, it is better for these checks to be made when the preparations are complete,” he added.
Shane Brennan, chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, said that although further delays caused injustice between UK food exporters and EU-based businesses importing into the UK, but it was a correct move.
“We import at least three times more food from the EU than we export. The impact of additional costs and uncertainty on our imports will be felt across the entire UK food supply chain if checks are carried out,” he added.
The CBI, the employers’ organization, said that while the move was “understandable”, given the strains on the supply chain caused by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, in the long run not applying The test measure “disadvantages UK exporters at a time when trade is acting as a drag on growth”.
