Defra has insisted its new border controls will be ready on April 30, after a report in the Financial Times cast considerable doubt on the extent of physical checks that will take place from that date.
The introduction of formal border checks had already been delayed five times when the Government announced last year that its new Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) would be phased in from the end of January, with full physical customs checks commencing on April 30.
The FT reported on Friday that it has told the country’s port authorities that it will not ‘turn on’ critical health and safety checks for EU imports when post-Brexit border controls begin this month because of the risk of ‘significant disruption’.
In a presentation seen by the FT, Defra made it clear that the new border systems will not be fully ready, just over a fortnight before physical inspections are set to begin. It outlined a plan to avoid ‘big delays’ due to queues of lorries at ports when the measures are implemented.
In order to get around the problem, the Government reportedly said it would ensure the rate of checks was initially ‘set to zero for all commodity groups’, essentially switching off large parts of the risk management system, in what it called a ‘phased implementation approach’.
In its presentation, Defra admitted to port health authorities that ‘challenges’ still remained within its systems for registering imports of food and animal products that could inadvertently trigger unmanageable levels of inspections, overwhelming ports. “There is a potential for significant disruption on day one if all commodity codes are turned on at once,” it said.
The presentation indicated that the systems would be ‘progressively turned on’ for different product groups.
Defra reportedly told the authorities its plan should not be shared with businesses, which will be charged a maximum of £145 ‘per consignment’ for goods coming from the EU from April 30.
Defra response
However, in a blog on Friday morning, Defra strongly refuted the report, insisting the government has ‘full confidence that the facilities, infrastructure and systems at the border, will be ready for the April 30 implementation date of new border checks’.
It said the priority for physical checks from day one will be on the highest risk goods, and Port Health Authorities will be conducting documentary checks on consignments of all risk levels and will contact traders where they have concerns. Checks will be scaled up to full check levels in a sensible and controlled way, it added.
A UK Government spokesperson said: “As we have always said, the goods posing the highest biosecurity risk are being prioritised as we build up to full check rates and high levels of compliance. Taking a pragmatic approach to introducing our new border checks minimises disruption, protects our biosecurity and benefits everyone – especially traders.
“There has been extensive engagement with businesses over the past year – with our approach welcomed by several trade associations and port authorities. We will continue to work with and support businesses throughout this process to maintain the smooth flow of imported goods.
“We are confident we have sufficient capacity and capability across all points of entry to handle the volume and type of expected checks. It is important to remember the cost of our border checks is negligible compared to the impact of a major disease outbreak on our economy and farmers.”
The blog went onto insist the Government was aiming to ‘strike the appropriate balance between protecting the UK from biosecurity risks and facilitating trade’.
‘Scare stories’
Defra Secretary Steve Barclay dismissed suggestions that the BTOM would not be ready for the new checks on April 30 as ‘scare stories’ when he was questioned by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee a few weeks ago. But he acknowledged there would be a ‘light touch’ to inspections at the start.
He was asked by Labour MP Barry Gardiner what confidence he had that ports are going to be ready, Mr Barclay replied:” We had a lot of similar stories before the January deadline, when we were bringing in the health certificates. Through the work of colleagues in the Department, and of Lord Robbie Douglas-Miller, who leads on this, a lot of the scare stories pertaining to January did not emerge.
“One of the things that we were criticised for as a Government was the fact that various things were delayed on this. Obviously, time was taken through those delays to get things ready. The intention in April is to take a light-touch approach as we bed it in. All of those things are part of the planning that has been put in place.”
Industry reaction
The FT report sparked further criticism within the British food industry that has long grown frustrated with the uncertainty surrounding the policy. There are also growing concerns over the biosecurity risk, particularly as Defra has diverted funding from the work carried out at Dover in seizing illegal meat imports to protect against African swine fever to fund the BTOM.
Andy McGowan, Managing Director, Scottish Pig Producers, said a failure to implement checks from April 30 would be a ‘gross betrayal of the British pig industry’.
“African swine fever is the worst animal disease outbreak in history – 90 countries are currently battling with it (12 of which are EU states) and UK Government has just decided that its too much hassle to inspect imported meat products.
“Given that the fundamental point of Brexit was to leave the existing customs and phytosanitary arrangements, UK Government has now had eight years to implement a border inspection system and yet it seems that’s not long enough.
“It is hard to avoid the conclusion that they are prioritising their electoral prospects over their responsibilities to protect the health of British consumers, animals and the farming industry.”
William Bain, head of trade policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, told the FT: “Any further confusion and uncertainty around the introduction of new border checks and costs is bad news for business.
“Business urgently needs to see crystal clear communication from Defra on its plans, and if any changes are being made then they need to know now.”
Phil Pluck, head of the Cold Chain Federation “It is beyond frustrating that repeated warnings about the readiness of crucial infrastructure have been ignored and now in less than two weeks businesses will have to try to navigate this clearly broken system.”
The British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) is anticipating delays at ports, added costs to industry and a loss of trade flexibility when the system is introduced, Farmers Weekly reports.
Nan Jones, the BMPA’s technical policy manager, said: “We are hearing of a high rate of mistakes being made in the paperwork that now has to accompany consignments coming into the UK.
“This is particularly around ‘no matches’, which is where the reference number for the customs declaration does not coincide with the data entered by the person raising the notification into the Defra IPAFFS [Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System] Service.”