UK delays checks on EU goods to ease supply chains

The UK has delayed imposing checks on EU goods entering the UK in an attempt to stop Brexit making supply chain problems worse.

The delay to the UK border regime, more than five years after the vote to leave the EU, was announced by Lord David Frost, the Brexit minister. He said the delay was "pragmatic" and was in response to supply chain problems that he blamed on the Covid-19 crisis.

The decision means UK exports to the EU are subject to full checks with EU imports into Britain free of paperwork and border controls.

"We want businesses to focus on their recovery from the pandemic rather than have to deal with new requirements at the border," Frost said, according to the Financial Times. Customs declarations and controls will be introduced on 1 January as planned but safety and security declarations will not be required until July.

A measure on agrifood imports will take effect on 1 January and not on 1 October, helping to limit Christmas disruption of food supplies. The Food and Drink Federation said the late change punished businesses that had prepared and rewarded those who did not.