Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with businesses that trade with the EU on the potential impact of inconsistent application of border controls on the (a) time taken for goods to clear EU customs and (b) cost of exporting goods.

The Government is committed to tackling barriers to trade, including reducing frictions at the UK Border.

To do this we need effective dialogue with businesses. Minister Thomas and I recently hosted a roundtable to gather businesses’ views on how to improve the UK-EU trading relationship. My officials are also engaging with businesses to understand the barriers they face and how we can support them to grow and export to the EU.

DBT is also working across government to understand how initiatives like the UK Single Trade Window and the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) can improve the passage of goods.