The government has delayed introducing controls on EU goods entering the UK over fears it will disrupt supply chains and contribute to rising inflation.
Post-Brexit import controls for EU products should start in July.
However, the government said “it would be wrong to impose new administrative burdens and risk disruption at ports at a time of higher costs amid the war in Ukraine and rising energy prices”.
It is the fourth time it has delayed EU import controls since the UK left the EU.
Brexit Minister for Opportunities Jacob Rees-Mogg said the government was looking at how it will carry out controls on EU goods and “the new control regime will come into effect at the end of 2023”.
He claimed that the delay “would save UK businesses up to £1billion in annual costs”.
Business groups welcomed the move.
“We’ve been dealing with significant supply chain stress and inflationary costs this year and it would have made a bad situation much worse,” said Shane Brennan, executive director of the Cold Chain Federation.
The Confederation of Small Businesses said: “The introduction of full import controls this summer would have placed a further burden on small businesses already grappling with new trade rules and rising operating costs.”
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