The Committee has asked the Minister to clarify the implications of this decision for UK biosecurity, as well as the impact on GB exporters of ongoing asymmetry at the border.
The House of Lords European Affairs Committee
has today written to the Minister for Brexit Opportunities, Rt Hon
Jacob Rees-Mogg MP, regarding the Government’s recent decision to delay
the introduction of import controls on EU goods entering Great Britain
for the fourth time. The Committee has asked the Minister to clarify the
implications of this decision for UK biosecurity, as well as the impact
on GB exporters of ongoing asymmetry at the border.
Background
On 28 April 2022, the Government announced that the remaining
post-Brexit import controls on goods entering Great Britain from the EU
would no longer be introduced from 1 July 2022, as previously scheduled.
This marked the fourth time the Government had decided to postpone the
introduction of these controls. The Committee assessed the causes and
consequences of the previous delays in its report, ‘One year on: trade in goods between Great Britain and the EU’, which was published on 16 December 2021.
In a letter to this Committee dated 28 April 2022, the Minister for
Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency in the Cabinet Office, Rt
Hon Jacob Rees-Mogg MP, set out the rationale for the Government’s
decision, citing “new challenges including ongoing supply chain issues –
partly as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – and wider cost of
living pressures”, which could be compounded by “new administrative
burdens, and the risk of disruption to ports and supply chains”. The
Minister added in his letter that the Government will publish a “Target
Operating Model” in the autumn, which will set out “how and when we will
introduce an improved regime of border import controls”. This “new
controls regime” will come into force “from the end of 2023”, with
further details on the implementation timetable to follow in the Target
Operating Model this autumn.
The Committee’s letter
The Committee’s response thanks the Minister for his letter and
highlights the Committee’s ongoing interest in this policy area. It
neither welcomes nor criticises the decision itself, noting the changes
in circumstances that underpin the decision and the range of views among
affected stakeholders. However, it asks the Minister a number of
questions arising from his letter, including:
- How the Government will ensure that businesses can trust that the Government’s new timetable will be adhered to;
- Whether this latest decision represents a more fundamental change in
the Government’s approach to import controls, rather than merely
another delay;
- How the Government will mitigate the impact on GB exporters of the “asymmetric” controls in place at the GB-EU border;
- Whether the Government intends to compensate port authorities for
the resources they have invested in physical infrastructure, which now
may not be needed;
- How the Government will safeguard the UK’s biosecurity from
dangerous or illegally smuggled food and animal products in the absence
of certain Sanitary and Phytosanitary controls;
- Whether the Government is confident that it is compliant with its
international legal obligations at the World Trade Organization.
The Committee has requested that the Minister respond to these questions within the usual ten working days.
House of Lords
© House of Lords
Key
Hover over the blue highlighted
text to view the acronym meaning
Hover
over these icons for more information
Comments:
No Comments for this Article