London, UK: The National Audit Office has added its voice to the many others warning of severe disruption to trade in January when the Brexit transition period ends.
It said it was “very unlikely” that traders would be ready for checks the EU is due to impose at borders and warned of “limited” time for UK ports to test new IT systems.
In a report, the Audit Office said the end of the transition period would bring “significant change,” even if the UK agrees a trade deal with the EU with traders facing new hurdles including customs declarations on goods being traded.
HM Revenue and Customs estimates that 270 million customs declarations will have to be processed annually from 2021, compared to 55 million currently.
Although the government says new checks on EU goods entering Great Britain will be phased in over six months from January, there was still uncertainty over the location of new border infrastructure. The government’s own “worse case scenario” estimates 40% to 70% of trucks on the short sea crossings will not be ready. And under the UK’s withdrawal deal, Northern Ireland is due to enforce EU customs rules at its ports, requiring declarations for goods coming from GB.
The National Audit Office said Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, which is responsible for planning checks on food and live animal imports, had been “severely hampered” by the continuing UK-EU trade talks. The department lacks “clarity” about the checks required, and now considers it will not be possible to finish work on its border infrastructure in time for January 2021 and is “exploring contingency options”.
Further uncertainty has been added with the government’s Internal Market Bill that gives ministers powers to override the Brexit divorce deal, the Audit Office says. And for added confusion there were still “various operational issues to be resolved” for goods crossing the English Channel including a planned online service allowing hauliers to declare they have the correct documents for the EU border and obtain a permit to drive on Kent roads.
The AUdit Office said border preparations had been hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic, with senior officials being diverted to the emergency response and communication efforts being temporarily paused.
Last week, Rod McKenzie, policy director for the Road Haulage Association, told a Scottish Parliament committee his industry had been “been badly let down by the UK government from beginning to end.” The information given to hauliers to help them implement the international permits they will require in the event of no trade deal being reached had been “quite often totally incomprehensible,” he said.
