It is ‘clear that EU exit has had an impact’, the report said, but stressed it is difficult to untangle how much of the hit to trade since the end of the Brexit transition on December 31, 2020, has been caused by the pandemic.
New border arrangements have not yet been tested at levels seen before the pandemic struck, it pointed out.
The report by the cross-party group criticised the government over repeated delays to introduce full import controls, which were due to be phased in from last month, and called for an end to ‘overpromising’.
It dismissed the government’s aim to create the ‘most effective border in the world’ by 2025 as being ‘optimistic, given where things stand today’.
“It’s time the government was honest about the problems rather than overpromising,” PAC chair Dame Meg Hillier said.
The parliament members want the government to fully calculate the extra costs to businesses from new border requirements and look at ways to reduce this, as well as the red tape.
The government should also do more to help small firms prepare for the extra burdens and consider further support, they said.
ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)
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