The Government’s new system of import checks finally comes into force today, after five delays and more than three years after we formally left the EU.
However, while proper checks on meat products that could pose a risk of diseases like African swine or foot-and-mouth under the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) will be welcomed, huge questions over the extent to which the Government is actually able and prepared to implement the new model.
There also serious concerns over the costs associated with the new checks, and possible impact on food inflation, and disruption to traffic near border control posts, while some businesses say there is still a lack of clarity on how the checks will work.
Under the second stage of the BTOM, food, animal and plant products which present a ‘medium risk’ to biosecurity and health will now undergo identity and physical checks, which test for pests and diseases. These checks involve visual inspections and temperature readings of goods.
Additionally, ‘high risk’ goods will now be checked at the border, where before they were checked at their destination.
The Government said the checks will help identify public health issues such as salmonella, and build on existing safeguarding measures which identify diseases like African Swine Fever.
Up until now, most goods from the EU – apart from the highest risk items like live animals and high-risk plants – have been entering the UK without checks. The Government said this was always intended to be a temporary measure to allow businesses time to adapt to any incoming changes.
However, it is unclear how extensive the checks will be in the early weeks and months. A report in the Financial Times said the Government has told the country’s port authorities that it would not ‘turn on’ the import checks on April 30 because of the risk of ‘significant disruption’.
In a presentation seen by the FT, Defra indicated the new border systems will not be fully ready and outlined a plan to avoid ‘big delays’ due to queues of lorries at ports. This reportedly involves initially setting the rate of checks ‘to zero for all commodity groups’ in what it called a ‘phased implementation approach’, with systems ‘progressively turned on’ for different product groups.
Defra admitted to port health authorities that ‘challenges’ 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,” the presentation warned.
Defra refuted the report, insisting the government has ‘full confidence that the facilities, infrastructure and systems at the border, will be ready for April 30’.
A Government spokesperson 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.”
Clarity needed
But in a letter to Defra Secretary Steve Barclay, Sir Robert Goodwill, chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, called for a ‘clear and unambiguous explanation’ as to how import checks will be rolled out from April 30.
He urged the Defra Secretary to ensure ‘more timely and transparent communication with stakeholders regarding [the Department’s] approach to SPS import checks’.
It states: “Although your Department’s response to the media reports affirms that checks will commence from April 30, the Defra presentation reportedly states that you plan to initially set the rate of checks to zero per cent for all commodity groups. We are concerned that this is a sixth delay to the implementation of SPS import checks in all but name.”
Sir Robert’s letter seeks answers from Defra on a number of issues, including ‘what a ‘graduated’ or ‘light touch’ approach to the measures look like in practice’, what percentage of new SPS checks will take place from April 30 in each risk category and when the measures will be scaled up to their intended capacity.
Cost concerns
There are also concerns over cost. Firms importing plants or animal products from the EU via the Port of Dover or Eurotunnel will, for example, have to pay up to £145 per consignment to cover the new costs, which will hit some businesses hard and has prompted concerns over food inflation.
The Government estimates that this phase of the BTOM will cost businesses £330 million per annum across all EU imports, but a report from consultants Allianz Trade estimated the cost at six times that – at £2bn.
Businesses within the supply chain have also complained that they remain in the dark about how the BTOM will work and what it will mean to them, while certain elements of the new controls, including the decision to move the BCP for the checks from Dover 22 inland to a brand-new facility at Sevington.
Speaking ahead of the planned implementation, British Meat Processors Association chief executive Nick Allen said stakeholders on a recent call to Defra ‘had loads of questions on the BTOM that Defra haven’t got the answers for’.
“It looks pretty chaotic, at the moment,” he said. “They seem to be dialling down everything, so they’re not actually stopping anything from coming in,” he said,
“Our biggest concern is that if they are not checking goods, we aren’t reducing the risk of diseases like ASF coming into the country. You don’t sense that our border controls have been tightened in any shape.”
Pilots
Marking the formal launch of the next phase of the BTOM today, the Government said it was also launching two new world-leading pilots. One will test whether businesses can carry out checks away from the border, and the other will examine if new technologies combined with business data can provide assurances that enable us to offer further benefits to industry, such as a possible reduction in checks.
It said the BTOM has been designed to minimise costs for traders and consumers. Government analysis estimates that traders will save around £520m per annum under the new model, compared with our original proposals post Brexit, while the inflationary impacts on food for consumers will be less than 0.2 percentage points over a 3-year period.
It said the cost of the model was ‘negligible’ compared to the impact of a major outbreak of a plant or animal disease on the economy. For example, the 2001 outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease cost £12.8bn in 2022 prices.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe, Minister of State at the Cabinet Office, said: “It is essential that we introduce these global, risk-based checks to improve the UK’s biosecurity. We cannot continue with temporary measures which leave the UK open to threats from diseases and could do considerable damage to our livelihoods, our economy and our farming industry.
“We have listened to all parts of industry every step of the way and will continue to support them to implement these changes as smoothly as possible.”
Biosecurity Minister Lord Douglas-Miller said: “Britain’s new border checks will help to guarantee the nation’s protection against the very real threat of plant and animal disease.”
UK Chief Veterinary Officer Professor Christine Middlemiss said: “Our risk-based, proportionate approach harnesses the latest technology so we can effectively bolster our biosecurity while continuing to trade with the rest of the world.”