For the fifth time since Brexit
London postpones EU food controls
08/29/2023, 5:50 p.m
British confidence in their supermarkets is at an all-time low, a survey shows. Concerned about even higher prices, the Tory government is now postponing Brexit controls on EU food for the fifth time. The opposition sees this as a humiliating about-face by conservative hardliners.
Britain is postponing Brexit controls on food from the EU for the fifth time. Actually planned for October, the first stage of the new border model should not come into force until January 2024, as the British government announced. They acted at the request of the industry. “To give stakeholders additional time to prepare for the new controls, revised schedules are in place for further controls.”
Business representatives welcomed the fact that the decision gives importers more time to prepare. Great Britain imports a large proportion of its food from the EU. The EU has been scrutinizing imports from the UK since January 1, 2021, when the country left the EU Customs Union and Single Market.
As the “Financial Times” recently reported, the British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt wanted to avoid additional costs in view of the high food inflation and has therefore campaigned for the renewed delay. The government now said it was “aware of the impact of inflation” but signaled there would be no further delays.
Opposition: Repair relationship with EU
The opposition Liberal Democrats criticized: “This humiliating U-turn is just the latest example of conservative chaos.” Rather, the government must repair the “broken relationship” with Europe and guarantee that consumers will not have to pay even more for groceries, despite the increased bureaucracy to be expected.
According to a recent study, the confidence of the British in their supermarkets is currently at an all-time low. Confidence in the domestic food industry fell in August to its lowest level since February 2013, when horse DNA was found in some frozen beef burgers, according to the latest monthly consumer survey. The Times quoted the survey as saying that less than half of the shoppers surveyed believed that the supermarket sector was acting in the interests of their customers.