IMTA response to border operating model about customs and SPS checks after 1 January 2021

IMTA response to border operating model about customs and SPS checks after 1 January 2021

The publication yesterday of the border operating model is helpful in providing a high-level outline of what these stages will look like, but we will need crucial details to follow in short order including:

·       What import certification will look like for EU imports to the UK

·       Frequencies of checks from July next year

·       Locations of BCPs where physical checks will take place as of July next year

We have long held a concern about the impact of veterinary checks on EU imports, particularly on the short shelf-life product that comes from the EU (e.g. chilled poultry meat). Many have referred to the EU-New Zealand veterinary equivalence agreement which reduces physical checks to just 1% as a potential model for a UK-EU arrangement but that still has significant potential implications for businesses and consumers. The 1% is random and the fact that you might be picked for the 1% checks itself makes supply chains trickier to manage. Even with the 1% physical checks, the EU-NZ vet equivalence agreement still requires 100% documentary checks and 100% ID checks.

How veterinary checks are implemented needs careful consideration. The geographic proximity of the EU and UK means the kind of product and nature of trade is more potentially impacted by the imposition of these checks due to shelf-life, complexity of products (wide range of processed products) and also use of ‘groupage’. We will be keen to engage with Defra on these aspects and to bring our expertise in this area to the table. Sufficient resourcing of Border Control Posts will be crucial to mitigating potential delays given the volumes of product that comes in from the EU. This will also be important to avoid impacting rest of world imports which already face veterinary checks.

We are engaging with HMRC on the detail of the customs aspects of the border from 1^st January; we need to ensure that all detail required for our members to prepare for both customs and SPS aspects of the border is available.

We have deep concern about the government’s UK Global Tariff which lays down the tariffs that will apply to goods not covered by a quota or free trade agreement. For meat, we need at least the same volume access to product from the EU at the end of the transition period.

It is imperative that a deal is achieved by the UK and EU that secures tariff and quota free access for meat as it is in the interests of importers, users of imported inputs such as manufacturers and consumers. We are not self-sufficient and we need imports to complement UK domestic production to ensure food security, consumer choice and availability of product year-round whatever the outcome of negotiations. 

The International Meat Trade Association represents predominantly UK based importers and exporters of beef, lamb, pork and poultry meat and has extensive experience of tariffs, TRQs veterinary checks in to the EU and customs.