I agree. S&S declarations are an interesting one cause I honestly can't understand why (to my knowledge) we did not ask for a waiver similar to what NO & CH have.
A waiver would also make the Irish Sea border a lot simpler.
Recently @pmdfoster prompted me to check the agreements to see if the S&S declarations waiver was related to Single Market commitments or anything else that could make it impossible for the UK and the EU to agree on one.
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This is what the Norwegian customs says about this wavier
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And if the UK was to agree on such a waiver an agreement with Norway and Switzerland would also be possible
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This seems to be the key point.
This plus the UK would need pre notifications for trade with non-EU countries which is something the UK already applies to imports and exports to/from non-EU countries.
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The only thing I can see in the agreement with Norway, that the UK might find constraining, is the fact that the safety and security declarations need to include data fields specified under the EU customs legislation - but that's what they look like now anyway.
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Basically, unless I'm missing something, I can't see anything in the legislation that would make it politically challenging for the UK to ask for such a waiver.
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Some, like prices going up or border disruptions, might.
But it is also likely to disproportionately negatively affect some sectors and regions.
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And here the immediate impact can be very different from the long term one.
The immediate one being the first few months (up to a year) of general confusions and realisation of all the additional costs and the loss of various possibilities.
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An important point to make - the EU is applying full procedures to UK goods as of 1 Jan cause that is what it’s obliged to do under international rules.
The EU shares borders with countries with a much closer economic relationship than the one we'll likely to end up with – why should goods from these countries be subject to full customs and other border procedures and goods from the UK not?
(WTO Art I) 👇
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I appreciate we never expected them to apply these rules to US, but to be fair we've known for 4 years that "we've got to be ready for the requirements that they have been clear apply to all third countries.”
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I can't find the original report commissioned by @ScotConvention but I'm starting to think the quote relates to EU nations and the borders between them.
Cause when you're talking about external EU borders - in particular with countries that do not have access to SM the friction is real. Reports are helpful but you can also check real-time info on the waiting times on these borders.
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Not going to go into "not everyone is stopped" - you remember coming from back from a non-EU country and not having to show your passport? Me neither.
But agree on not every truck being checked. Of course. Selective, spot checks only depending on the capacity at the border.
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Gov's "time is running out" ads may seem strange in light of how much guidance is still missing (hello, the Irish Sea border). However, believe it or not, they are needed and various stakeholders have been asking for them.
There are still so many companies that are not doing all they need to do before 1 Jan. It's not easy, and yes, there is guidance missing.
But companies also need to take some responsibility for their readiness - even though this is not a situation they should be in.
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This campaign is better than the previous "pst, something is happening at the end of the year" one. Call to action and I'd even like them to say - if you don't act now you might not be able to move your goods.
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First stop Canada. Yes, we rolled it over and agreed to re-negotiate. That’s great (although doesn’t really give us full continuity). But it’s a success.
And then there is this 👇
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Women’s economic empowerment and the environment - two of the areas where FTA provisions are pretty much "nice to have": don’t change much, are on best endeavours principle and the work needs to anyway be done domestically by each party.
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