The UK minister tasked with the implementation of Brexit Michael Gove has told a border delivery group stakeholder event that the UK would be introducing border controls after the end of the current transition period on 31 December this year.

While the restoration of border inspections for trade with EU countries is an inevitable consequence of Brexit, this is the first time that the UK government has formally stated that there will be checks and controls on imports into the UK from EU countries.

The EU has made clear that there will be checks on UK exports to EU countries.

Doesn’t apply to island of Ireland

He pointed out that this didn’t apply to trade on the island of Ireland or between Northern Ireland and Britain.

However, the Irish protocol in the withdrawal agreement between the UK and EU provides for checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from Britain to avoid checks at the land border.

The level of checks and inspections between EU and non-EU countries varies depending on the extent of a trade agreement, if any is in place.

The closer the trade agreement, the less inspections, but as the UK has made clear, it will not be bound by EU rules.

With the EU insisting on a level playing field as part of a trade deal, it is clear that a difficult negotiation lies ahead, with a very short time frame to secure agreement.

Checks at UK ports have consequences for Irish exporters and, at the very minimum, will cause delays in delivering goods to UK customers.

This a particular problem for farmers, because any delay in delivery of fresh produce shortens the shelf life and value of Irish products to UK customers.

Customs tariffs

There is of course the additional issue of the UK tariff policy, which has the potential to decimate the value of the UK market, especially for beef.

The UK government launched a consultation on this last week and it runs until 5 March.

Last year, the then-government in the UK indicated that it would create a 230,000t tariff-free beef quota, open to all countries and impose full WTO tariffs on sheepmeat imports. This has never been put into legislation, but the tariff policy will now be formalised following the consultation.