A fifth delay on the introduction of post-Brexit import checks on food and fresh produce arriving in Britain is to be officially announced imminently, the Guardian understands.
The decision to once again push back plans to enforce the controls – which have been in place for exports from the UK to the EU – is linked to concerns that the move could further fuel food price inflation during the cost of living crisis, while traders have also asked for more time to adapt to the new rules.
The plan to delay the new border controls has been backed by the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, according to the Financial Times, which broke the news earlier this month that the postponement was on the way.
The government’s post-Brexit border strategy, including inspections of animal and plant products arriving in Britain, was originally supposed to be introduced in 2021.
According to the most recent timetable, import checks had been expected to introduced in three stages over the course of a year, beginning with new paperwork requirements – including health certificates for certain animal and plant products, as well as high risk food products – from the end of October this year.
Meanwhile, physical checks at the UK border had been expected to begin on 31 January 2024.
However, after the latest delay, the schedule has moved back by three months, according to the FT, meaning that new paperwork will not be needed until the end of January, while physical inspections of goods will not start until the end of April.
A full announcement regarding the new timetable and the final border strategy – known as the target operating model (TOM) – is expected to be published shortly by the Cabinet Office.
A government spokesperson said the TOM “introduces an innovative approach to importing that will be introduced progressively”, adding: “We are reflecting on the valuable feedback provided by a range of businesses and industry stakeholders and will publish the border target operating model shortly.”
Under the strategy, the government is expected to introduce a charge of up to £43 on each consignment of food or plant imports arriving in the UK, whether or not they need to be checked.
The latest delay to border controls is intended to reduce the risk of new import charges being passed on to consumers, reigniting food inflation just as prices are thought to have peaked.
Businesses in the food industry and hauliers had also expressed their concern that uncertainty about the government’s final border strategy left little time for them to adapt to the new rules.
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However, the further hold-up will once again put the government at odds with UK domestic food producers, who have long argued that a lack of import controls gives a free pass to continental rivals while they have to endure checks on all fresh food exports to the bloc.
Before Brexit, exporters could send chilled and fresh food to the EU without any paperwork because the UK was a member of the single market.
Since Britain’s departure exports of fresh and chilled foods such as sausages or cheese, along with animal and plant products including timber and leather, have been subject to sanitary and phytosanitary checks and are only able to be exported with a health or veterinary certificate.
However, the UK’s corresponding post-Brexit import checks have been pushed back on four occasions already: in 2020, twice in 2021 – partly because border infrastructure was not going to be ready on time – and then again last year by the then Brexit opportunities minister, Jacob Rees-Mogg.
The move to delay import controls once again comes days after the government abandoned plans to force manufacturers to label their products with an alternative to the EU’s CE safety mark.