UK sets out future border controls

A clearer picture began to emerge this week of the new bureaucracy facing businesses at the end of the transition period on 31 December, with the release of a 206-page UK government document on future border controls.

While the document does not cover arrangements for NI, for companies operating in Britain, there is a three phase approach starting on 1 January 2021.

Customs declarations on imports from, and exports to, the EU will have to be completed from 1 January and any customs duties or vat will have to be paid.

Safety and security declarations on exports from the UK to the EU will also be required from that date. For products travelling in the opposite direction declarations will be required from 1 July. Sanitary and phytosanitary controls will also be phased in on imports up to July, although the EU have said they will implement them from 1 January.

Traders will have to register for an Economic Operator and Registration Identification (EORI) number, and the document advises businesses to consider getting a customs intermediary as “customs declarations are complicated”.

The document also advises that these procedures are required by businesses trading with the EU 27, irrespective of whether or not the current trade talks between the EU and UK end in a deal.

NI trade

No specifics have been made available yet on the documentation and procedures required for trade between NI and the rest of the UK. It is governed by the Irish protocol in the Brexit withdrawal agreement, with NI part of the UK customs area, but continuing to follow EU customs law and regulations on goods.

Where this gets complicated is in that NI entry points are required to serve as EU border controls in order to avoid checks at the Irish land border.

NI affairs committee

The absence of clarity was highlighted this week in a report by the NI affairs committee of the UK Parliament which was critical of the UK government’s “political approach”.

The fear in business is that despite UK government promises for unfettered access to the rest of the UK, some sort of additional documentation will be required.

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