Another delay to post-Brexit border controls
Since the end of the transition period a series of staged border controls on exports and imports has been imposed, the last of which is the pre-arrival and pre-departure Safety and Security declarations for all consignments. This was supposed to come in on 31 October but has just been delayed until 31 January.
BMPA's Technical Policy Manager, Nan Jones explains: "While the meat industry is as prepared as it can be with the information that will be required, we’re still lacking clear guidance from government on how to present it to comply with the new Safety and Security declaration requirement."
This delay represents an acknowledgement from government that such information has not been made available so far. But, as Ms Jones points out: "it also presents an opportunity for the Government to issue comprehensive guidance to companies and to put in place the necessary support ahead of the delayed implementation on 31 January next year."
Of course, as we've said many times before, all of this extra bureaucracy, extra cost and delays at the border would be completely unnecessary if we formally aligned with the EU, something we're already doing in order to trade with it, but must prove via a mountain of red tape. The FT's Peter Foster and Madeleine Speed have some thoughts on this.