PA
The British government has been rebuked after it attempted to bypass Brussels on post-Brexit trade rules.
Documents obtained by The Independent show that the European Commission was unhappy after British officials went directly to member states to ask how they plan to cope with new checks on goods coming into the UK.
Concerns have been raised that the food supply chain could be disrupted if businesses on the continent are ill-prepared for significant changes to how they trade with the UK.
The Border Target Operating Model will bring a new round of controls on goods from the EU from 31 October 2023, with consignments carrying goods considered medium or high risk, such as some meat, dairy and fish, requiring vet-signed export health certificates.
Rishi Sunak’s government has come under pressure from both the EU and British business bosses to spell out exactly how the latest controls on imports, due to come into force in October, will work.
British officials are said to have reached out to EU nations as a first port of call, but their actions have been firmly slapped down.
The EU commission has told countries in the bloc to ignore the UK government completely, sending a memo telling member states to provide only “short general information” because of the “problematic” nature of the British request.
The commission later warned the UK that contacting each country directly was “outside” the terms of Boris Johnson’s Brexit trade deal – saying it was of “significant concern” since a proper response to British queries should be “harmonised at EU level”.
Shane Brennan, chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, warned that there was still “a lot of uncertainty and confusion” among European businesses about the certificates they will need and how border controls will operate. “They’re not confident it will go smoothly,” he said.
He added that the “unhelpful friction” had come at a time when UK businesses and port chiefs are “livid” that they don’t have enough information from the government on how the import checks are supposed to work.
“There’s going to be a period of disruption and paralysis,” he told The Independent. “There’s still so many unanswered questions; yet again, we’re going to have to deal with it when it comes. It’s a complete mess.”
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