Customs Safety and Security Procedures (EU Exit) (No. 2) Regulations 2019

Lord Bethell Excerpts

Monday 7th October 2019 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Lord Bethell]

That the Regulations laid before the House on 5 September be approved.

Relevant document: 61st Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, this statutory instrument is part of the Government’s package to prepare for the possibility of the UK leaving the EU without a deal. The instrument relates to safety and security declarations on goods imported and exported between the UK and the EU. The Government’s aim is to leave the European Union on 31 October 2019 with a deal that works for citizens and for businesses. Until that final deadline, we will do everything in our power to reach an agreement with the EU. However, as a responsible Government, we have a duty to plan for all scenarios and to prepare comprehensively for Brexit. I note that the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee has included this instrument in its report of 3 October 2019 as an instrument of interest.

I will set out the context of the provision we wish to introduce for managing the safety and security risk of goods entering and leaving the UK. These measures maintain many of the aspects of the current safety and security regime. They help facilitate the flow of trade while ensuring the continued safety and security of our borders.

In 2005, the World Customs Organization adopted the SAFE Framework of Standards as a deterrent to international terrorism, to secure revenue collections and to promote trade facilitation. As a result, safety and security declarations became a requirement when goods moved across borders. The UK as part of the EU has previously required safety and security declarations only for goods leaving or entering the EU. If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, UK importers and exporters will be required to complete safety and security declarations for goods moving to and from the EU as well as the rest of the world.

This instrument has four key purposes. First, HMRC has listened to industry concerns about the readiness of business to comply with safety and security requirements on UK-EU trade from day one. Therefore, the instrument gives businesses more time to prepare to start to submit declarations to HMRC for movements to and from the EU. It introduces a 12-month transitional period until 1 November 2020, during which there will be no requirement for entry summary declarations for goods imported from territories where the UK does not currently require them. This means that entry summary declarations will not be required for imports from the EU.

Entry summary declarations will continue to be required for goods imported from the rest of the world. Therefore, the UK will receive the same safety and security import declarations in no deal as it does today. The transitional period introduced by the instrument applies to declarations that the UK does not currently receive. As a result, there is no increased security risk to the UK from this approach.

Secondly, the instrument gives HMRC a discretionary power until 1 November 2020 to allow businesses to submit safety and security declarations for certain exports after the goods have left the UK. This is a contingency power subject to HMRC’s discretion, and the specifics will be set out in a public notice. The power would be used if required in combination with a similar power granted in a previous statutory instrument to extend the time to provide the export customs declaration. Together, they could allow an extended time, if needed, to provide the combined export customs declaration and the export safety and security declarations. HMRC would use the power if needed to facilitate movement of goods to assist in the continued free flow of trade.

Thirdly, the instrument removes until 1 May 2020 the requirement for exit summary declarations for empty containers, empty pallets and empty vehicles moving from the UK to the EU. They are not also required for any spare parts, accessories, equipment, pallets, containers and means of transport. Such declarations are not required at present, so we are giving businesses a longer time to prepare.

Fourthly and finally, the instrument also clarifies that a combined export safety and security declaration can be accepted when exporting goods. This ensures that exporters are not required to submit separate exit summary declarations.

The instrument does not apply to movements of goods between Northern Ireland and Ireland. A previous statutory instrument set out that, in no deal, there would be no safety and security declarations between Northern Ireland and Ireland. The Government are committed to supporting the all-Ireland economy by avoiding checks and infrastructure at the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. Under no circumstances will the Government put in place infrastructure checks or controls at or near the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

This instrument strikes the right balance between giving traders time to prepare for new arrangements with the EU and maintaining the safety and security of the UK. I beg to move.

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[Lord Bethell]

My Lords, I thank noble Lords very much for a really intense debate on a key Brexit measure that has been brought to the House. A lot of expertise has been brought to it, and it is my intention to try to reassure the House that this important statutory instrument has been carefully thought through, that it is very much a product of consultation with the haulage industry and that it works as part of the Government’s Brexit programme in a thoughtful way.

The noble Lord, Lord Purvis, spoke about the very large amount of smuggling that there already is and asked what proportion of trade is affected by the waiver. Goods moving to the UK from the EU are not currently subject to safety and security declarations: that is a key point of this debate. This is a new measure that will introduce new requirements on imports to the UK. It is difficult to measure exactly, right now, what proportion is involved, but I undertake to write to the noble Lord about the exact proportion of trade affected by this transitional period in which entry summary declarations will be required. I will get back to him with a precise figure, since he asked such a specific question.

The noble Lord, Lord Purvis, asked about the impact on air freight. Interaction with air freight is exactly the same as it is with land ports. Entry and exit summary declarations apply to air freight in exactly the same way, and these easements will also apply in exactly the same way. Declarations will still be required for the rest of the world. On whether these waivers are something new, the waiver is not currently a requirement for hauliers. Declarations are not required by importers in any case so deferring them for a year is not thought to have a big impact on either smuggling or crime.

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

Can I could seek further reassurance? Will the rules that are currently applied to keep these heinous crimes at bay continue, or will that actually be a problem because of the sheer scale of no-deal activity? That is my concern. Obviously, the security notice, once introduced, will help as well, because there will be a further item that can be checked, but is there going to be a problem in the interim? If the Home Office and its people at the borders are going to continue to do all they are doing at the moment, that would be good to know.

[Lord Bethell]

The sheer scale is enormous, but the feedback from the haulage industry and HMRC is that they are putting in place the measures necessary for the highest level of declarations. Most of the measures put in place to tackle crime and smuggling are intelligence and data-led; they do not involve inspection of vehicles on a mass scale. The noble Lord, Lord Purvis, referred to 46 million crossings of the Northern Irish border. Quite clearly, only a very tiny proportion of those could possibly involve any kind of inspection. So, in answer to my noble friend’s question, the same intelligence and data-led measures will be in place, even during this deferment.

The noble Lord, Lord Purvis, asked whether the 12-month waiver could be extended by Regulation 3(3). I reassure him that Regulation 3 is for exit summary declarations only. A 12-month waiver for any entry summary declaration is in Regulation 4 and I reassure the noble Lord that this cannot be extended under the SI. Let me clear up some confusion about the impact assessment. The HMRC impact assessment was republished this morning. I would be happy to share a link to it and a copy of it. It was widely distributed and makes important reading.

[Lord Purvis of Tweed]

Does the Minister think, in all honesty, that for a measure laid before Parliament on 5 September the publication of an impact assessment only on the morning that it is debated in this House is in any way appropriate, whether or not it is urgent? Is it not really rather an abuse?

[Lord Bethell]

The noble Lord makes a very fair point, but I reassure him that this impact assessment is not solely on this SI and is not an effort to try to mislead the Chamber. It is the overall HMRC impact assessment that covers, I believe, duties and the impact of all these measures. Its publication today is an effort to get it out as quickly as possible, and it is coincidental to the fact that we are discussing this specific SI. It is the updating of a previous impact assessment which is, I believe, more than six months old and has been available on the website for some time. If I can provide some clarification on where it can be found, I would be happy to share it. It refers to all the measures contained in this SI.

Lastly, the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, asked why we are using the urgent procedure under the EU withdrawal Act after giving assurances that we would not do so. The truth is that the number of times we have used the urgent procedure is very low indeed—minimal, even. I pay tribute to officials at HMRC and the Treasury for getting through a huge amount of work to get the legislative frameworks in place to prepare for a potential no-deal Brexit. On the eve of prorogation, when certain clocks on SIs that were laid before the House are ticking down, it made sense to use the urgent procedure to make sure that the request of industry and HMRC could be reassuringly executed so in this instance we decided to do that. This has been a really valuable debate—

[Lord Tunnicliffe]

I hate to be picky, but I asked only one substantive question, which is whether the French have to agree to any of this.

[Lord Bethell]

The noble Lord asked a very good question. I apologise for not putting it at the top of the list because it is absolutely right. No. This is a matter for the UK. France and other EU member states will have their own requirements for safety and security which UK businesses will have to comply with if entering or leaving those countries. No waiver from them is necessary as this is purely domestic law. I hope that that answers the question clearly.

[Lord Purvis of Tweed]

That is very illuminating and I am glad that the noble Lord, Lord Tunnicliffe, reminded the Minister of that point. I hope that this information on the impact on British business will be considered in any form of impact assessment. If the wavier is not part of a reciprocal agreement, what is the benefit of export for British exporters? Clearly, the waiver will be a benefit for those who are receiving the goods and for exporters to the United Kingdom. What is the benefit of no waiver from our European export markets?

[Lord Bethell]

The noble Lord puts it very well. The truth is that, in order to execute the SI before us, we do not require EU permission, which I think was the substance of the noble Lord’s initial question.

[Lord Tunnicliffe]

My question is on very much the same point. We are creating this SI, and I entirely accept that it is within domestic law to create a frictionless border, but if at the other side of the border there is a piece of EU bureaucracy—I must call it that rather than French bureaucracy—then the exercise becomes a bit pointless.

[Lord Bethell]

My Lords, in this Chamber we can execute only what is within the realms of our legislative ability. These are the measures that the industry and HMRC have sought from us. Negotiations with the EU to create the right kind of border will take place in the future. What we are trying to do here is to put in place whatever we can do as a country to have the best possible framework for our importers and exporters.

[Lord Tunnicliffe]

Perhaps the Minister might like to reflect on this conversation and see whether any of his colleagues could add some colour to that answer. There are quite a lot of deals relating to no-deal situations—I believe the EU calls them bonus deals—and I would be grateful, if there is further information, if he could write to us both.

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[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

I see the point of passing this order, even if we do not have a reciprocal situation. Business has asked for it. We rightly have done what is necessary. HMRC has done that. I also think that if we behave in a good way, the other member states will be able to see that we have done this, which helps, as it were, to keep the lorries rolling. That could be helpful in forward discussions in a difficult situation of no deal, which I do not think any of us want to see.

[Lord Bethell]

My noble friend puts it very well. I note the obvious disquiet in the Chamber, and I am very glad to undertake to write, as requested by the noble Lords, Lord Tunnicliffe and Lord Purvis, to try to clarify this. However, I can only present to the House what is before me. I cannot bring to noble Lords a trade agreement with the EU and I cannot resolve our future trading arrangement with Ireland because those two things are massively out of the scope of this statutory instrument and well beyond my pay grade or my ability to answer in the debate this evening. As my noble friend put it, all I can do is to present to noble Lords a statutory instrument that has been asked for by the industry and HMRC. I hope that it will provide some kind of example and format for our trading partners to lock into and set an example on energy and oomph and on technical jigsaw-making that they can connect with. The Treasury thinks that this is the kind of format that we should aspire to in the future to create the right kind of statutory framework for a successful trading future for the country. It is in that spirit that I commend these regulations to the House.

Motion agreed.