Brexit border plans could lead to smuggling, warns Truss
BORIS JOHNSON’S Brexit border plans could lead to smuggling and breaking international rules, Trade Secretary Liz Truss has warned in a leaked letter.
The Government announced last month that full border controls will not be applied on goods until July 2021, despite Britain leaving EU trading and custom rules at the end the year. Business groups fear this delay risks a “disaster” for firms trading with the EU.
In an explosive letter to Cabinet ministers yesterday, Ms Truss warned that the new regime risks the UK’S international credibility.
The leaking of the letter, to the Business Insider website, has raised suspicions Ms Truss may be moved from her post in a mooted summer reshuffle.
In the private correspondence to Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, and Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, Ms Truss expresses four “key areas of concerns” about the border plans, which are due to be published on Monday.
Warning that the proposals would create a series of logistical, political and reputational risks for the Government, the letter demands “assurances that we are able to deliver full control at ports by July 2021 and that plans are in place from January to mitigate the risk of goods being circumvented from ports implementing full controls”.
Suggesting a lack of preparedness could lead to smuggling from the EU if UK ports are not ready to carry out checks, and she warned the UK could “be vulnerable to WTO challenge”.
This is because UK plans to temporarily give the EU preferential treatment could breach WTO rules if there is no UK-EU free trade agreement in place. Yesterday, Angela Merkel said the EU should be prepared for Brexit without a trade deal after Mr Johnson told the German chancellor Britain is “ready” to walk away without an accord.
Ms Truss also expressed concerns over the Union if EU tariffs are applied to all goods heading to Northern Ireland by “default”.
“I understand that the digital delivery of the dual tariff system (both EU and UK tariff) in Northern Ireland is a high risk and that HMRC is planning to apply the EU tariff as a default to all imports in NI on Jan 1 2021,” she wrote.
She also said she was worried that it would anger Unionists, telling Mr Gove and Mr Sunak: “This is concerning as this may call into question NI’S place in the UK customs territory.”
The letter also appears to confirm that a previous UK government plan to waive customs declarations on exports to the EU had been dropped.
“I am pleased to hear that, following the XO [Exit Operations] meeting last Friday, it was decided that the temporary waiving of export declarations will not be included in the publication,” added Ms Truss.
She signs off by telling her colleagues that “we need to ensure that the UK border is effective and compliant with international rules, maintaining our credibility with trading partners, the WTO and with business”.
The UK trade department needs a “clear view of operational plans, timescales and risks going forward,” she urged.
Meanwhile, George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, yesterday told a House of Lords select committee that Britain could forgo annual negotiations with the EU over fishing opportunities for some types of fish.