So this is what our trading arrangements may look like,post Brexit.....
The “new customs partnership” is the more ambitious of the two, but comes with significant compromises. It envisages the UK copying, or “mirroring”, EU tariffs for imported goods ultimately bound for other member states. A smartphone flown into Heathrow could be put on a truck and sent to Paris without passing through another physical customs barrier because any EU duty would be charged in the UK. Importers would either have to submit to electronic tracking to show that UK-only goods were not sneaking off to the continent, or else would just be charged the higher tariff rate upfront and then claim a rebate if it ends up in a British shop. The unspecified corollary of this is that UK-produced goods would also get to escape EU import tariffs because we would strike a far-reaching free trade deal at the same time. If everything heading for the continent or Ireland is tin effect duty free, we don’t need physical customs checks – or so the logic goes.
That sounds difficult. Is there an alternative?
Officials concede that their plan has never been tried before and is highly ambitious. It depends on substantial goodwill among the EU27, who will have to have the same faith in HM Customs and Excise and the honesty of British business as the UK government seems to be ready to extend. If it cannot be agreed, the UK proposes trying to mitigate existing customs controls with the “highly streamlined arrangement”. This also relies on companies agreeing to report exports in advance, or perhaps once a month for big shippers, so border controls can be reduced to number plate recognition cameras and similar mechanisms. Officials point out that much enforcement from non-EU countries already takes place far from the borders, but this system could also require them to be checking on EU consumer standards as well. They may be able to persuade Dublin to accept such a scheme in the interests of Northern Irish peace, but it is hard to imagine France, for example, taking everything on trust. The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, is understood to have advised the French government to invest in new customs infrastructure at its Atlantic ports. How “streamlined” it proves is anybody’s guess.
Looks complex to me.
KudosDave
