Bord Bia has warned Irish food and drink exporters to the UK that they will need to “comply with additional requirements” from October 31 of this year.
New border controls for goods traded between the UK and EU were put in place after Brexit, these rules impacted all Irish traders exporting goods to Great Britain including via the UK landbridge to the rest of Europe.
The third phase of these rules – under the UK’s Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) – will now come into effect in the Autumn and will see the introduction of additional safety and security declarations for imports into Great Britain from the EU.
According to Bord Bia this will mean “products of all risk levels”, except low risk plants, will face checks upon entry into the UK.
“Failure to comply with checks may mean your product may get rejected from the border,” it warned.
The UK’s Border Target Operating Model was first published last August and set out the British government’s approach to safety and security controls – applying to all imports – and sanitary and phytosanitary controls – applying to imports of live animals, germinal products, animal products, plants and plant products – at its borders.
It also detailed how controls would be delivered through simplification, digitisation and the UK’s new Single Trade Window.
From October 31 2024 the UK government will implement the requirement for safety and security data to be submitted for goods arriving in Great Britain from the EU.
It also plans to introduce a reduced dataset for imports and has detailed that the use of the UK Single Trade Window will “remove duplication where possible across different pre-arrival datasets – such as pre-lodged customs declarations”.
Bord Bia
Bord Bia, in association with PerformanSC, now plans to organise a number of workshops for food and drink exporters to the UK over four days from Tuesday, August 27 to Friday, August 30.
It intends to cover a number of key issues during the workshops including:
- Detailed overview of customs, tax, and trade requirements;
- Clarification of customer and supplier responsibilities under IncoTerms;
- Definitions and compliance requirements for products;
- SPS (Sanitary & Phytosanitary) and documentation procedures;
- Updates on the UK border target operating model (BTOM) relevant to Irish producers;
- Practical advice for collaborating with logistics providers.