The UK government is strongly considering delaying checks on imports from the European Union again amid warnings of severe disruption to supplies in the run-up to Christmas. The post-Brexit paperwork for imports is currently due to be phased in from October. Most of it will be coming in January. It was originally supposed to be introduced in April but ministers decided to delay them by six months in order to give businesses and UK ports more time to prepare.
Boris Johnson was warned at the time that introducing the checks in April would rock supplies of food just as hospitality businesses were re-opening after lockdown. The UK gets around two-thirds of its fruit, vegetables and cheese and over half of its wine from the continent, among other items.
Unlike the UK government, Brussels implemented post-Brexit checks immediately after the UK left the Single Market and Customs Union. This unleashed a wave of new paperwork on British exporters, making sending goods to the EU more difficult and costly, especially for smaller businesses.
Source: politicshome.co
