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Post-Brexit border controls on animal and plant products coming into the UK from the European Union have been delayed again over fears they could fuel inflation.
Rishi Sunak has put halving inflation as one of his top priorities this year, but Brexit has proven to be a spoke in the wheel for the PM as firms come to terms with a tight labour market and an end to frictionless trade.
The Border Target Operating Model, which will bring a new round of controls on goods entering the UK from the EU such as meat, dairy and fish and brings in the need for vet-signed export health certificates, was also expected to add to these woes, but it has now been pushed back to next year.
Government insiders have told the Financial Times that while final details of the border plan would be published “very soon”, its implementation on the ground would be delayed.
“The driving force behind this is the need to bear down on inflation, that’s why there will be a delay,” said one government insider briefed on the plan.
“There will be additional costs at the border.”
British exports to the EU are already subject to full checks and have wreaked havoc on many meat, dairy and seafood producers.
Nick von Westenholz, director of trade at the National Farmers Union, acknowledged that the government needed to protect consumers from price rises, but said that yet another delay would exasperate many farmers, who face barriers for their exports which are not being reciprocated on imports from the EU.
“We need proportionate, light-touch checks in place that can both keep costs for importers to a minimum while properly managing biosecurity risks,” he said.
“Government must quickly set out a clear and concrete timetable for the new import regime, so we have a level playing field for UK growers and producers.”
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