A no-deal Brexit will see border controls ditched and emergency measures to control queues put in place, the National Audit Office (NAO) has warned.
Regulatory and safety checks on agricultural and food-related products and “other goods” arriving from the EU will be waived for an unspecified time in the event of no-deal, according to an NAO report published today.
Emergency measures are also being put in place to cope with the border disruption that is expected, the report reveals.
The UK Border: Preparedness for Exit, looks at the preparations government departments are making ahead of Brexit to ensure a smooth transition.
It says that the government has accepted that the border will be ‘less than optimal’ in the event of a no-deal Brexit, as there is not enough time to “put in place all of the infrastructure, systems and people required for immediate and fully effective border operations”.
Instead the government plans to prioritise security and flow of traffic over compliance activity in the short term, the report reveals.
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To this end, Defra will waive regulatory or safety checks on “most agricultural and food-related products and other goods arriving from the EU”, the report says, adding that this strategy is based on the assumption that “risks at the border will not change immediately, and that overall patterns and volumes of border crossings will initially remain the same”.
It adds that most traders will be compliant and declare the duties they owe.
The NAO report says that whilst the government has not defined what a ‘less than optimal’ border might mean, “this could include delays for goods crossing the border, increased opportunities for tax and regulatory non-compliance and less information to inform checks of people crossing the border”.
It says government will have to address some “significant issues” to prevent the sub optimal border arrangements continuing for a long period and warns that “organised criminals and others are likely to be quick to exploit any perceived weaknesses or gaps in the enforcement regime”, creating security weaknesses.
The report notes that: “The Border Delivery Group is working with departments and the Cabinet Office’s Civil Contingencies Secretariat to put civil contingency plans in place. Plans are progressing to cope with issues such as queues of traffic in Kent, and to enable the continued supplies of essential goods and medicines.”
However, it warns that if the EU states apply third country controls to imports from the UK, “there will be a significant impact on the flow of traffic crossing the border”.
RHA chief executive Richard Burnett said “how many more reports will be issued before their contents are noted and acted upon?”
Burnett added: “The border is not ready and plans to make Kent motorways into, what are in effect glorified lorry parks are simply not enough. And the government’s claim that any increase in the number of checks will be kept to a minimum, fills us with no confidence at all. We need clarity and we need it now. Time has run out.”
Pauline Bastidon, FTA head of European policy, also called for clarity “Despite repeated warnings from FTA since article 50 was triggered, it is concerning to note the NAO has confirmed that it is now too late to implement new border infrastructure and that border processes on day one after Brexit will be 'less than optimal'," she said.
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