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Scoop: U.K. officials are urgently working to avoid a border crisis with the EU, according to a leaked memo 1/ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-03/u-k-races-to-fix-critical-gaps-exposed-in-brexit-border-plan
Michael Gove has been given a Cabinet Office briefing listing 13 issues with the government's post-Brexit border plans, which is said to have `critical gaps' and is in part `unmanageable', with only 4 months to go 2/
The industry assessment comes after fractious discussions with the freight sector, which is deeply concerned about the state of preparations. The Road Haulage Association along with other logistics groups has called for urgent talks with Gove and Chancellor Rishi Sunak 3/
A U.K. official acknowledged there are issues to be addressed. Gove will increase the frequency and urgency of his meetings with logistics experts in the weeks ahead, the memo said 4/
What are the problems? There's lots of concern about the delivery of the Smart Freight System - this is the new IT system still in development which the UK will try to use to stop trucks arriving at the EU border with incorrect paperwork. Details here: 5/ https://twitter.com/Joe_Mayes/status/1282628977501319170
Get this wrong, and it's a winter crisis for Johnson. The EU will stop trucks that try to enter without customs declarations, creating traffic jams and supply chain turmoil. It's new cross-border red tape that hasn't been needed for 30 years, and will apply even with an FTA 6/
Here's the letter sent by the industry to Gove and Sunak, which gives a strong sense of the worry among those who can see the Brexit border preparations first hand 7/
This is also why the government is building the Brexit lorry parks, to have space to hold trucks in case they approach the port with incorrect or missing paperwork. We're still waiting for confirmation of more sites https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-24/u-k-plans-truck-stop-by-the-white-cliffs-of-dover-after-brexit 8/
The stakes are high. UK does about half its trade with the EU, 80% of imported food in British supermarkets comes from the bloc. Border chaos would mean fresh food spoiling in trucks, just-in-time manufacturing stalling, extra strain on supply chains 9/
So it's proper squeaky bum time now. Less than 4 months to go and major systems remain in development and untested. All while government and companies also battle the challenges of coronavirus. Buckle up.. ends/ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-03/u-k-races-to-fix-critical-gaps-exposed-in-brexit-border-plan
