UK Changes Plans for EU Import Controls

To ease pressure on British living costs, on 28 April 2022 the UK government announced that no further restrictions on the import of goods from the EU would be imposed this year. In other words, traders will continue to be able to move their goods from the EU to Great Britain as they do now.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the recent rise in global energy costs have had a significant effect on supply chains that are still recovering from the pandemic.

According to the British government, experts will now review how to implement remaining restrictions in a better way so as to work with innovative new technologies, with further details to be published in a new controls regime targeted to come into force at the end of 2023.

Specifically, the following controls which were planned for introduction from July 2022 will now not be introduced immediately: 

• a requirement for at-destination Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) checks on EU imports to be moved to a Border Control Post (BCP),
• a requirement for safety and security declarations on EU imports,
• a requirement for further health certification and SPS checks for EU imports, and
• prohibitions and restrictions on the import of chilled meats from the EU.

However, if a business imports goods from the EU into Great Britain and has chosen to submit safety and security (S&S) declarations on those movements, they can continue to do so on a voluntary basis.

The Minister for Brexit Opportunities, Jacob Rees-Mogg, underlines, “We want the process for importing goods from the EU to be safe, secure, and efficient and we want to harness innovative new technologies to streamline processes and reduce frictions. It’s precisely because of Brexit that we’re able to build this UK-focused system.”

The controls that have already been introduced will remain in place, i.e.:

• inspections of the highest-risk animals, animal products, plants, and plant products will continue to take place alongside the customs controls which have already been introduced,
• S&S checks brought in last year remain in place as part of the existing customs control system introduced during 2021, and
• if a business imports goods into Great Britain from other non-EU countries it remains a legal obligation to submit their S&S Entry Summary declaration (ENS) for those movements.

“The British government emphasizes that it is still committed to closing the Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) system in line with the published dates and encourages everyone to continue preparing to move to the Customs Declaration Service. CHIEF will close for imports after 30‌‌‌ September‌‌‌ 2022, and exports after 31‌‌‌ March‌‌‌ 2023. The move across to the Customs Declaration Service is still on track,” says Anna Smirnova, UK Head of AsstrA Industrial Project Logistics.