Jacob Rees-Mogg, Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency, has confirmed, in a ministerial statement, that additional border controls on imports from the EU, due to be introduced from 1 July 2022, is pushed back until the end of 2023. No further import controls on EU goods will be introduced this year, but controls that have already been introduced will remain in place.

The transformative programme to digitise Britain’s borders is being accelerated, harnessing new technologies and data to reduce friction and costs for businesses and consumers.

Introducing controls in July would have replicated those that the EU applies to their global trade. This would have introduced complex and costly checks that would have then been altered later, as the UK’s transformation programme is delivered.

A Target Operating Model will be published in the Autumn. This will set out the new border import controls regime and will target the end of 2023 as the revised introduction date. This new approach will apply equally to goods from the EU and goods from the rest of the world. It will be based on a proper assessment of risk, with a proportionate, risk-based and technologically advanced approach to controls.

Specifically, the following controls which were planned for introduction from July 2022 will now not be introduced:

• A requirement for further sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks on EU imports currently at destination to be moved to border control post (BCP).
• A requirement for safety and security declarations on EU imports.
• A requirement for further health certification and SPS checks for EU imports.
• Prohibitions and restrictions on the import of chilled meats from the EU.