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Britain’s trade with the EU will face “significant disruption” when the Brexit transition ends, regardless of whether a trade deal is reached, the UK government’s spending regulator warned.
The National Audit Office (NAO) said preparations for the new border controls, which had already been labeled “high risk,” had been further hampered by the coronavirus pandemic. The controls will take effect on January 1, one day after the transition period ends.
With less than two months to go, the NAO said key IT systems had yet to be tested and truck transit areas were not ready. He added that the government has not yet taken the necessary measures to guarantee that there are enough customs agents, which is considered “vital” for the proper functioning of the system.
At the same time, civil contingency plans to maintain the supply of medicines and other critical goods, including the acquisition of additional cargo capacity outside the main crossings of the English Channel, were proving more difficult to implement due to the pandemic.
The NAO also highlighted concerns about the controls that will be required for goods moving into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.
The Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), responsible for controls on agri-food products, had been “severely hampered” by ongoing trade talks with Brussels and the “lack of clarity” on the necessary measures.
As a result, DAERA had concluded that it would not be possible to complete the necessary work on its systems and infrastructure by January 1. He said he had to explore “contingency options.”
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Meanwhile, the NAO said the government had given itself little time to mobilize its new Trader Support Service, which will help companies move goods between Britain and Northern Ireland. This meant there was a “high risk” that traders would not yet be ready when the new agreements were implemented.
According to the latest “reasonable worst case planning assumptions” from the government, between 40% and 70% of trucks transiting between the EU and the UK may not yet be ready for the new border controls as of January 1st.
Ministers have already warned carriers that they could face queues of up to 7,000 trucks at major Canal crossings.
While arrangements were being developed to minimize delays, the NAO said these were dependent on new technology and would require the involvement of both merchants and carriers.
At the same time, he warned that there is little time left for ports to integrate their systems and processes with new government systems, and that they may have to resort to “manual processes.”
While the government has identified seven inland transit sites for trucks, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has said that getting all of them ready for January 1 was “very challenging.”
Although ministers have delayed imposing full import controls on goods from the EU until July 2021, the NAO said there was still “uncertainty” about where the infrastructure would be located and if it would be ready in time.
He added that HMRC still needed to make significant changes to its customs systems to handle the increase in customs declarations, even though he knew this was likely necessary since planning for a no-deal Brexit began in 2017.
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