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“We are planning full checks on all EU imports – export declarations, security declarations, animal health checks and all supermarket goods to pass through border inspection posts,” the Daily Telegraph reported a senior Whitehall source as saying. “This will double the practical challenge at the border in January 2021.”
The paper reports that businesses will be informed of the policy on 10 February.
This would be a complete departure from Theresa May’s policy. Last year in its no-deal planning, the government said it would waive customs checks and tariffs on 87% of the goods coming into the country and only impose limited checks on goods.
If confirmed, the new policy would mean physical checks on food such as tomatoes, cheese and meat coming in from the EU, including beef and dairy from Ireland, as well as paperwork on imports.
Such a dramatic change in policy could be seen as a hardening of position to gain leverage in upcoming negotiations as the trade-off between access to the single market and regulatory alignment will be a key element of talks.
“We are not doing the no-deal unilateral flow prioritisation any more, and that is a blanket move, across the board,” the source told the Telegraph. “It will have big practical impacts.” [...]