Thread by @hayward_katy

How to mitigate #NoDeal for the Irish border?

I've now read the report top EU customs experts Pickett & Lux wrote for NI Dept for the Economy on this. Not easy reading ⚠️

Here’s a few highlights.
(For further analysis see the incomparable @PMDFoster)
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economy-ni.gov.uk/publications/i…

First, context:
90% of NI businesses who export to EU trade across @BorderIrish.
94% of NI bus. exporting south are micro- or small enterprises
(Significant, for reasons we’ll return to)
A third of value NI exports to ROI is ‘food & live animals’
(We'll also return to this).
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Second, a reminder of what trading across EU customs border means:
💳providing guarantees for customs debts,
💷payment of customs duties & import VAT
🎫applying for authorisations
🛃complying with customs formalities
📒est. operating procedures for dealing with customs
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What can be done to make it easier? Pickett & Lux look at 3 layers of options.
First, exemptions under GATT: e.g. security clause, waiver requests, frontier traffic (Art. XXIV).
They say in principle the UK & EU could make a case for these (ideally in a coordinated way)...
4/9

But not sure of being granted.
M.fundamentally: none of these are a solution but a request to ignore the rules in specified places for a certain time.
The longer that goes on, the greater risk to consumers & to reputations of UK & Ireland as reliable trading partners...
5/9

Well, how about making customs facilities business oriented?
E.g. Build integrated customs logistics centres to help streamline processes. The bigger and closer to the border, the better...
🤔
Not ideal in terms of joint UK EU commitment to avoid physical infrastructure.
6/9

What about Smart borders?
A fully electronic environment for customs is definitely where customs facilitation is headed, but does not totally remove the need to control goods crossing the border, esp. agrifood.
And tech requires infrastructure, physical inspections, ⏲️& 💰.
7/9

There are 2 oft-repeated points throughout this report.
1. None of the mitigating measures can get around sensitive goods. ‘In respect of animals, products of animal origin, plants, etc. checks will hv to be carried out to avoid abuse & protect food safety & the environment’
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2. Things to make life easier in processing customs (deferred payments, self-assessment, waivers on guarantee, simplified customs declns, approved consigner/consignee status…) are, Pickett & Lux say, out of reach of small/micro enterprises.

Can the #AAC meet the challenge?
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