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The trouble with ‘unfettered access’...
Having completely turned over the DUP by accepting the NI Protocol & a sea border the last crumb of comfort the UK govt could offer NI unionism is that goods going from NI to GB would have ‘unfettered access’ ie. no new checks or controls.
The UK govt is prepared to breach the Protocol to achieve this. The EU says that under the Union Customs Code (which NI will be implementing) goods leaving NI for GB should have an Exit Summary Declaration (EXS); the UK says no way.
This seems reasonable enough, right? Why should the EU really care if there’s a record of goods moving internally round the UK? These movements pose no threat to the single market or customs union.
But then let’s think about how ‘unfettered access’ should work. Goods which are ‘NI qualifying’ have unfettered access. Goods which are not NI qualifying should be subject to fetters ie. UK border processes including SPS checks.
For example a lorry load of French cheese which has landed in Rosslare & is then driven over the frictionless Irish border & onto a ferry in Belfast bound for Scotland is clearly not intended to be NI qualifying.
The UK has put down holding legislation. Any product which is present in NI and is not subject to any customs supervision qualifies. But the govt says this will be tightened up & there will be anti-abuse rules directed at our French cheese lorry. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-54468281
But here’s the rub. If some products qualify for unfettered access & some don’t how do you distinguish between the two? Wouldn’t you at least need some basic admin filing where the authorities have details of what is on a truck, where it’s come from & where it’s going to?
This is the sort of info you would have on an EXS. It’s not a customs declaration but is closer to a commercial invoice in terms of the info required. But the UK has put itself on a hook to say it doesn’t want this.
But a careful reading of the IMB shows that the UK has not ruled out the possibility of introducing this sort of ‘fetter’ to make the qualifying goods regime work properly. Look how 2a qualifies 1
So we wait to see how this can be made to work in practice.
