Customs procedures at the border are an inevitable outcome from Brexit, according to the EU’s agriculture and rural affairs policy body DG Agri. The UK’s intention to leave both the single market and the customs union means there will have to be customs checks at the border.

“The UK is leaving the EU. It will become a third country from March 2019. This is a fact,” said Brigitte Misonne, deputy head of DG Agri’s animal unit.

Speaking at the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) national conference in UCC on Tuesday, Misonne said the UK has made clear its plans to leave the EU single market and customs union.

“We can’t be blind to the reality of what this means. It means customs procedures on all EU-UK trade,” she said. From a livestock and food perspective, Misonne said these customs procedures would take the form of veterinary checks and procedures.

She warned that the “just in time” manufacturing process is at stake for businesses exporting to the EU. “After Brexit, we will have to organise differently,” said Misonne.

December agreement

Misonne’s frank assessment of the future arrangements for EU-UK trade relations comes just days after Michael Gove, the UK’s secretary for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, hinted that UK will maintain regulatory, welfare and environmental standards post-Brexit.

Speaking at the Real Oxford Farming Conference, Gove told delegates that the future of British food lay in “quality, provenance and traceability” to compete at the top of the value chain.

This suggests that post-Brexit, the UK is likely to continue alignment with EU in terms of production, welfare and environmental standards.

It reinforces the agreement between the UK and EU in December on phase one of the Brexit negotiations in relation to keeping a seamless Irish border that would not require physical customs checks.