The FT has reported that import controls on goods and produce arriving in the UK from the EU are to be delayed for a fifth time, apparently due to fears about the impact that checks will have on inflation. They were due to come into operation at the start of October, the government earlier being adamant that it WILL happen, but now we learn it won't. You can read it HERE (no paywall). This isn’t a surprise since plenty of groups have been pressing for just such a delay. Apart from the extra costs, there are worries that many smaller EU suppliers (and UK importers) don’t know all the details or aren’t ready for the added bureaucracy and may not want to export to Britain anymore.
This is yet to be confirmed officially but the FT’s report seems to be based on sound information from insiders, so I assume it’s right.
“The driving force behind this is the need to bear down on inflation, that’s why there will be a delay,” said one government insider briefed on the plan. “There will be additional costs at the border.”
"A new timetable has not yet been signed off by ministers, but the start of the new regime is expected to slip into next year."
If true - and it seems entirely consistent to me - it is another humiliation for Brexit Britain. It's also probably a wise decision. After all, who is trying to reach all these thousands of SMEs across the EU27 to let them know? You can be sure the British government isn’t taking full-page ads in national newspapers in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and everywhere else, advising EU exporters to get ready.
Bigger companies will be able to cope easily but with added costs, while smaller suppliers may decide the UK is simply not a big enough market and is just too much trouble. We know a lot of UK exporters have given up sending goods to the EU, why do we think they are different?
The single market, it seems to me, was created in order to increase trade by allowing smaller companies to 'export' into Europe without having to employ expensive freight handlers to arrange complex border formalities. The very notion of exporting was able to reach far deeper into the list of Britain's SME's to allow more of them to grow, and this was surely at least a part of the raison d'etre of the single market. All lost now of course.
Brexit was sold largely on controlling our borders, mainly for immigrants as we know, but it looks like we aren’t controlling anything. Immigration is spiraling out of control anyway and the government seems to spend most days battling the small number of asylum seekers in small boats crossing the Channel. Billions are being spent on trying to house them while the number of applications waiting to be processed keeps rising.
But apart from that, it means UK agriculture and food producers have a continuing disadvantage. Their exports face the full rigour of the EU's third-country SPS checks, delays, and masses of costly paperwork all having to be faultlessly completed and presented at specific entry points equipped with Border Inspection Posts.
Meanwhile, EU produce coming the other way is simply waived through. The idea of Brexit was to try and tilt the single market’s playing field in our favour but it is in fact now all uphill for us and downhill for the EU27.
A key point that is overlooked in all this is the claim by some Brexiteers (Daniel Hannan for one I believe although I can’t find a quote) that we don’t need to check foodstuffs because EU standards are very good. This is true - for goods or produce placed on the EU’s market.
The point is well made by Micheal M (@vivamjm) who tweets:
They are for produce sold on *their* market. No country responsible for produce made on or transiting its territory destined for somebody else's market. That's up to border force of that market. Only UK not got one against EU. Favouring the EU (its exporters & world's smugglers)
— Michael M. 🇨ðŸ‡ðŸ‡³ðŸ‡´ðŸ‡®ðŸ‡¸ðŸ‡±ðŸ‡®ðŸ‡¬ðŸ‡§/🇨🇾 (@vivamjm) August 7, 2023
This is a man with 30 years of experience in the logistics/freight forwarding business now retired and living in Cyprus.
Exported stuff isn’t subject to any rules at all. You can do whatever you like provided you aren’t selling things inside the EU.
This should be obvious. I worked for European companies that regularly manufactured machines and systems that wouldn’t meet EU regulations because they were intended for the USA for example. This is normal. In the same way, American companies have to meet EU standards to get anything into the single market but won't comply with US standards.
This isn’t to suggest most or even a significant minority of EU suppliers are about to start sending us second-rate goods or rotten agricultural produce. They have reputations to consider and probably want to have an ongoing trading relationship anyway.
But there are unscrupulous companies in the EU and in the UK and if the rewards are attractive enough, who knows what could come in? Meat past its sell-by date which might have to be thrown away, for example, could be re-packaged and find its way to the UK. Why not?
The British Veterinary Association is already concerned. BVA president Malcolm Morley commented on the FT's report: “News that the Government may be once again delaying the introduction of crucial border checks on goods entering the UK is extremely frustrating and is putting the UK’s biosecurity at serious risk of imported diseases like African Swine Fever.
“Government vets are doing an unwavering job to mitigate these threats but without proper border controls from the EU in place, they are effectively doing the job with one hand tied behind their backs. The British Veterinary Association urges the Government to urgently press ahead with introducing the checks or risk the safety and security of our agricultural industry, food security and UK public health.”
As Chris Grey frequently points out, Brexit is apparently so good we have to keep delaying the full implementation of it as if it might all be too much for us to enjoy at once!
