UK border plan ‘in complete disarray’ as checks on EU imports are delayed again
Businesses have described the UK’s Brexit border plans as being in “complete disarray” after it emerged some checks on EU imports due to come in later this month will be delayed.
Post-Brexit border rules will come into force on 30 April, requiring many meat, dairy and plant products imported from the EU to be physically checked at government border control posts (BCPs).
But trade bodies have said fresh confusion about when the checks would come in were “incredibly challenging” for business planning, while others said huge questions remained about the government’s readiness for the regime.
Under the rules, medium- and high-risk products, including meat and dairy products as well as most plants, could be subject to checks at the borders as part of a move to enhance Britain’s biosecurity.
However, the Financial Times reported that the government would not “turn on” the checks on 30 April in an attempt to avert delays, because border systems were not fully ready.
The government insisted the checks would commence on 30 April but indicated that it would be focusing on higher-risk products and scaling up checks on other products in a “sensible and controlled way”.
The Guardian understands this will mean that the government will focus its checks on the highest-risk products across high and medium bands, and then slowly build up to full checks. The government has yet to provide a timeline but said it would take a “pragmatic approach”.
There have already been five delays to implementation of these checks, which were initially set to start in July 2021.
Phil Pluck, the chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, said: “The ongoing confusion about how and when new checks will be introduced makes these preparations incredibly challenging. A phased approach is the right one but businesses urgently need clear information about what exactly these phases will include, and a definitive timeline.”
Martin McTague, the chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, said the system was in “complete disarray”, with businesses having to “decode messy and unclear messages” from Whitehall over whether they would face checks.
In January the first phase of the border target operating model (BTOM) was introduced, with medium- and high-risk goods having to secure plant health and vet signoffs before they could be exported to the UK.
Nan Jones, the technical policy manager of the British Meat Processors Association, said it was aware importers were making high rates of mistakes in the new paperwork, which was causing problems with the government’s IT system at the border.
She said: “Currently there is no consequence for this error but once the new border controls come into force, these errors will result in consignments being nd directed to a BCP for an inspection. This could result in UK border posts being overwhelmed with extra work they are not equipped to process.”
Although the new regime is just 10 days away from implementation, businesses have said there are still gaping holes in it.
Delays to the government publishing its charges for goods coming through Dover have meant a number of private border control posts at ports across the country have still yet to publish their rates for importers.
A UK government spokesperson said: “We are confident we have sufficient capacity and capability across all points of entry to handle the volume and type of expected checks.”
‘British businesses urgently need clear information and a definitive timeline’
Phil Pluck
Cold Chain Federation
works will be a crucial step in revolutionising what humans eat.
Food and agriculture is responsible for about a quarter of all planet-heating carbon emissions. Its share of pollution is likely to grow as other industries shift to using green electricity, and ever-expanding middle classes demand more meat for their tables.
Up to now the focus has been on trying to persuade people to eat less meat and more plants. Non-farmed proteins such as solein might make that more appealing.
Solein comes as a yellowish powder made up of single-cell organisms, similar to yeast. The company is hoping the proteins can be used in meat alternatives, cheese and milkshakes, and as an egg replacement ingredient in noodles, pasta and mayonnaise.
The ravioli it served up this week was made with solein replacing egg, and a solein version of cream cheese. The Finnish confectioner Fazer has sold chocolate bars in
Singapore with added solein.
Almost all food consumed by humans ultimately comes from plants, which use energy from the sun for photosynthesis. That process converts CO2 and water into the molecules plants need to grow. Solar Foods instead uses the same renewable electricity from the sun to split water apart. It then feeds the hydrogen and oxygen to microbes in a brewing vessel, plus carbon dioxide captured from the air from the company’s office ventilation system.
The claim that the proteins are made out of thin air is “never more than 95% true”, says Vainikka: 5% of the mixture in the brewing vessel is a solution containing other minerals needed by cells. The microbes are pasteurised (killing them), then dried. That leaves a powder that can be used in food.
The real climate benefits from solein would come from cutting the vast tracts of land used – and abused through deforestation – for animal feed and pasture. Instead, renewed forests could trap carbon. Efficient US farmers get 3.3 tonnes of soybeans from each harvest of a hectare, the UN says. Solar Foods’ factory takes up a fifth of a hectare to produce 160 tonnes a year.
“As we can relieve pressures on agricultural land, they can rewild and return to being climate sinks,” Vainikka said.
Conservative politicians have identified lab-grown food as a threat to ranching and farming cultures. Vainikka argues that these fears are misplaced. He wants “coexistence of new and old”, with artisanal, high-quality farms remaining alongside cell farming that can deliver cheap, bulk foods.
“The future is not powder: the main body of food will still come through plants,” he says. The occasional “salami with the cultural heritage, that can remain. The meat in your lasagne during lunch will be done by cellular agriculture.”