Labour has condemned the Government for waiving through
last-minute changes to customs rules that it admits will put the
security of the UK border at risk.
Anneliese Dodds, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, has branded the new
Customs Safety and Security Procedures (EU Exit) Regulations
“tantamount to a smuggler’s charter”.
The new rules come amid massive uncertainty over how new customs
and trading rules will operate, threatening major disruption in
the run-up to Christmas and beyond.
As the clock ticks down to the end of the Brexit transition
period in 21 days, the Government has been forced to push through
these regulations in the hope of reducing border disruption at UK
ports.
The Government has accepted that the new rules, which give HMRC
the power to waive pre-departure safety and security checks for
exports, could potentially compromise UK border security, opening
the door to smugglers to use our ports to carry out illegal
activity.
Yesterday Labour warned that the growing pressure at UK ports is
putting the Christmas economy at risk, with businesses
stockpiling supplies due to Brexit uncertainty. This comes on top
of continuing uncertainty on business-critical issues, from rules
of origin to essential systems still not being operational.
, Labour’s
Shadow Chancellor, said:
“Today the Government traded away the security and safety of UK
trade by pushing through new customs rules that are tantamount to
a smuggler’s charter.
“This comes on top of failures to deal with a range of
business-critical issues that have repeatedly been raised with
Government, from rules of origin to systems still not being ready
with just days to go till we leave the transition period.
“The Government’s desperate, last-ditch attempt to avoid gridlock
at our ports could have been avoided if it had acted responsibly
and taken action earlier”.
Ends
Notes to Editors
