Government publishes updated GB-EU border operating model

Updated guidance provides further detail for businesses and passengers on how the GB-EU border will operate after the end of the transition period.

• Hauliers will need a Kent Access Permit to proceed to the border.

• Confirms EU, EEA and Swiss national ID cards will not be acceptable for travel to the UK, including for drivers, from October 2021.

Today (Thursday 8 October) the Government has ramped up preparations for the end of the transition period by publishing an updated Border Operating Model, which provides further detail on how the GB-EU border will work and the actions that traders, hauliers and passengers need to take.

The updated guidance follows extensive engagement with the border industry and the £705m package of investment for border infrastructure, jobs and technology, announced earlier this year.

This publication gives traders further information on the changes and opportunities they need to prepare for as a result of us leaving the EU Single Market and Customs Union. These steps will be needed regardless of whether we reach a trade agreement with the EU.

The updated GB-EU Border Operating Model:

• Maps out the intended locations of inland border infrastructure. The sites will provide the necessary additional capacity to carry out checks on freight.

• Announces that passports will be required for entry into the UK from October 2021 as the Government phases out the use of EU, EEA and Swiss national identity cards as a valid travel document for entry to the UK. Identity cards are among the least secure documents seen at the border and ending their use will strengthen our security as the UK takes back control of its borders at the end of the transition period.

• Confirms, after extensive engagement with industry, that a Kent Access Permit will be mandatory for HGVs using the short strait channel crossings in Kent. The easy-to-use ‘Check an HGV’ service will allow hauliers to check if they have the correct customs documentation and obtain a Kent Access Permit.

In a further move to support the customs intermediaries sector, the Government is also announcing that it will exercise an exemption within EU state aid rules to increase the amount of support that businesses can access from the Customs Grant Scheme. To date, the Government has provided more than £80m in funding to support the customs intermediary sector with training, new IT and recruitment.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Michael Gove, said:

“Our updated Border Operating Model provides further detail on how the GB-EU border will work after the transition period ends on 31 December and the actions that traders, hauliers and passengers must take.

“With fewer than 3 months to go, businesses need to prepare now for new procedures whether or not we reach a trade agreement with the EU, so that they can seize the significant opportunities that lie ahead.”

Home Secretary, Priti Patel, said:

“When the transition period ends, we will have control of our borders and will deliver our new firmer and fairer points based immigration system.

“Our firm and fair approach will treat people from every part of the world equally.

“Phasing out the use of identity cards at the border, which are some of the least secure documents, is an important step in making our border safer."

RHA chief executive, Richard Burnett, said:

“It’s vital that hauliers and traders do everything they can now to prepare for our new trading relationship with the EU.

“Firms moving goods across borders will have to undertake customs processes whether there’s a deal or no deal.

“The message is clear – if the paperwork’s not right, the goods won’t cross.”

Logistics UK Policy Director, Elizabeth de Jong, said:

“This clarity on trading arrangements from 1 January 2021 is welcomed by logistics businesses and it is now vital that all businesses trading with the EU use this guidance to make sure their staff and systems are fully prepared.

"Logistics UK and its members stand ready to help keep Britain trading."

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Border Operating Model

• A full copy of the updated Border Operating Model will be live here shortly https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-border-operating-model

• This model does not cover matters specified in the Northern Ireland Protocol. Information relating to the rules that will apply in relation to Northern Ireland following the end of the transition period have been detailed in other publicationshttps://www.gov.uk/guidance/moving-goods-into-out-of-or-through-northern-ireland-from-1-january-2021

• Further detail on the Kent Access Permit will follow in the response to the Operation Brock consultation.

State aid - The Customs Grant Scheme

• We intend to use the General Block Exemption Regulations for training to allow us to increase support businesses can apply for from the grant scheme, in addition to de minimis state aid available under the scheme. Once the scheme is updated, we will provide further details.

ID cards

• EEA and Swiss nationals who were not residing in the UK prior to the end of the transition period or who are not covered by the terms of the withdrawal agreementswill require a passport to travel to the UK from 1 October 2021.

• EEA and Swiss nationals whose rights are protected under the withdrawal agreements (such as people with status under the EUSS and Frontier Workers) will be able to use their national identity cards to enter the UK until 2025 at least.

• Irish Citizens will not need to qualify for leave to enter the UK even after the end of the transition period, and we will continue to accept Irish passport cards for travel to the UK.

• British Citizens in possession of Gibraltar Identity Cards will also still be able to enter the UK using those cards.

• However, we encourage all EEA and Swiss travellers to use a passport where possible. This allows them to benefit from the use of e-Gates at our ports of entry; the quickest and most efficient method of crossing the border.