New UK border checks
So we are putting some, not all of border checks that we agreed during the Brexit talks in place. Up till now we have not really done so. It was not seen as good for business. The EU on the other hand had their border checks ready so it was easier for EU businesses to export to us than for us to export to them. The lack of checks has allowed smugglers in.
A year or so ago there were 22 random check on lorries one day. Out of the 22 checked 21 contained unfit food. We don’t have the staff or buildings to cope. I say the new rules are in but the government has told the border force to prioritise traffic flow over checks. As far as I can see there will be no real difference.
A year or so ago there were 22 random check on lorries one day. Out of the 22 checked 21 contained unfit food. We don’t have the staff or buildings to cope. I say the new rules are in but the government has told the border force to prioritise traffic flow over checks. As far as I can see there will be no real difference.
Comments
(I recall an anecdote of some French people visiting England and saying they thought the food in England was 'dirty'! Not exactly sure what they meant!)
Minimal checks will still allow for illegal importation. If smugglers feel there is a chance the vans will not be checked they could bring in anything quite easily
No wonder even more businesses in the EU are getting to realise that selling to the UK is simply not worth the bother.
Every set of standards will - necessarily - have a bar under which things start to fail, at that point you have a bunch of things that need disposal, or you can find another market with weaker regulations.
Once there's a known hole in a particular system, then that can easily become the 'other market'
One or two items I've bought in Tesco or the Co-Op recently have had *Not for sale in the EU* on the label, leaving me to wonder what nastiness has been left in, for the consumption of us unfortunate Brits...
I live on the border in Donegal - if my wife and I go to, say, Iceland or Home Bargains, who currently aren't trading in the Republic of Ireland, then significant numbers of their products will have "Not for EU" labels on the shelves. This was a fig leaf to save the blushes of those unionists who went full tilt into the Br*x*t madness and then belatedly realised that the border in Ireland can't ever realistically be closed or 'automated'.
Thanks! I see what you mean.