Tusk says door is still open for a Brexit delay if UK needs more time
The declarations record what is leaving Northern Ireland and entering the Great British market, for safety and security purposes.
Seamus Leheny from the Freight Transport Association called on the government to explain why the exit declarations were part of the Brexit deal, as he claimed the EU had not insisted on the measure.
Mr Leheny said transport companies in Northern Ireland would now face an added administration cost.
“This is another layer of administration and red tape which we were promised Brexit would remove,” he said. “One of the reasons for Brexit was because of red tape, but all we are seeing for the last two and half years is the likelihood of more and more red tape.”
He added: “I think everyone was caught off guard by this because the EU weren’t pressing for this to be implemented.
“When myself and other business groups met the EU about a year and a half ago, it was one of the things the EU said ‘OK, yes we can row back on’, as part of ensuring frictionless trade from NI to GB.
“So it’s something the UK government has decided to implement, if it does. What it is, is an unwelcome administration burden on transport providers.”
Goods shipped into Northern Ireland from GB will encounter administration and costs as a result of the UK applying the EU’S customs code in the region, including import declarations and entry summary declarations.
The impact assessment of the Brexit deal, which is not adjusted to take account of potential changes to trading behaviour, highlighted that such declarations for UK trade with the rest of the world currently cost from £15 to £56 a time.
However, the report said it was not possible to estimate the added administrative cost of GB to NI trade, due to a lack of data.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has insisted any checks in the Irish Sea would be “light touch”.
Ann Mcgregor, chief executiveofnorthernirelandchamber of Commerce and Industry (NI Chamber), expressed concern.
“There will be some paperwork for goods going both ways. Whatever these forms turn out to be, it will be very different from what we have now – adding a further administrative burden to businesses.” The EU will allow a Brexit extension to avoid a no-deal scenario, the president of the European Council told MEPS ahead of yesterday’s crunch votes.
At a plenary meeting of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Donald Tusk said a delay was still possible, shortly before Boris Johnson signalled he would be willing to abandon his “do or die” commitment to leave by the 31 October deadline – provided it was for a short, technical extension.
Frenchpresidentemmanuel Macron and EU chief Jeanclaude Juncker had applied pressure on MPS with hints that Mr Johnson’s deal is the last and a further delay may not be granted.
But Mr Tusk said the latest request for an extension to Article 50 should be treated “in all seriousness” as he consults EU leaders.
“We should be ready for every scenario. But one thing must be clear: as I said to Prime Minister Johnson on Saturday, a no-deal Brexit will never be our decision,” he said.
The new Brexit deal must also win backing from the European Parliament but its Brexit co-ordinator, Guy Verhofstadt, suggested “all problems faced by EU27 nationals in the UK need to be solved” first. His demands include no citizens being deported from Britain if they miss the deadline for settled status in order to prevent “another Windrush scandal”.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier also told the European Parliament that “this is the only possible agreement”, signalling it is the last deal any Prime Minister can broker.
But he warned that the 14-month post-brexit transition phase would be insufficient to negotiate a UK-EU trade deal, risking a no-deal scenario in December 2020.
“We are going to have to negotiate beyond Brexit, and the divorce settlement, maybe two, three or more years for some areas to rebuild everything that has had to be unpicked as a result of those who wish [for] Brexit,” Mr Barnier said.
At the end of his term in office as EU Commission President, Juncker said it has “pained” him to spend so much time dealing with Brexit, which he described as “a waste of time and a waste of energy”.