Any additional delays to the introduction of post-Brexit border checks on imports will simply postpone the inevitable, and send mixed signals to businesses that have been urged for months to get ready for the additional formalities involved with moving goods across the UK’s borders.
This is the view of Logistics UK which was responding to news that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is considering a further delay to the introduction of import checks on goods arriving from the EU, currently scheduled to be introduced in July 2022.
Sarah Laouadi, Logistics UK’s Head of International Policy, is concerned that businesses will be unsettled by the ongoing uncertainty.
“Despite the ongoing pressures on supply chains caused by the war in Ukraine, Russian sanctions and the Covid-19 pandemic, logistics businesses need the certainty for planning which a deadline provides,” she argued.
Highlighting that there have already been three false starts with regard to the introduction of import controls from the EU, she has insisted that it is time for the Government to make a clear commitment to a deadline and to ensure the necessary facilities, staff and processes are in place and ready to cope with the volume and patterns of trade by that date.
However, as Ms Laouadi concedes, there is still much work to be done, particularly regarding the Northern Ireland Protocol and the movement of goods to and from Ireland.
“Currently, no controls are imposed on goods entering Great Britain from Northern Ireland and the Republic,” she has pointed out, “and while this situation has avoided issues for Northern Ireland businesses sending goods across the Irish Sea, there is still no means of differentiating goods and providing proof of origin without stringent controls that would breach the Government’s guarantee of unfettered access for Northern Ireland business to the Great Britain market.”
More work needs to be done on this, and quickly, to keep the smooth flow of goods moving Ms Laouadi concluded.
