The UK government is to build “10 to 12” new Brexit border customs and controls sites across the country in a move that Michael Gove has said cements the mission to “take back control” from the EU. In the biggest shake-up to trading with the EU for 50 years, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced the £470m programme for facilities to process freight going to and from the EU, along with a 206-page document detailing new border controls. Five sites are likely to be in Kent and are expected to be operational by 1 January, when the UK leaves the customs union and single market. They will handle up to 400m customs declarations a year, insiders said on Monday, with HM Revenue & Customs writing to 12,000 businesses trading with the EU – who up to now have not had to fill in customs declarations – warning them of the changes ahead. Gove told the House of Commons that January marked “the next chapter of our history as a fully independent United Kingdom”, which could determine its own recovery path from Covid-19 without deferring to Brussels. Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said that with this dramatic change to the trading regime announced just months before Brexit becomes operational, many businesses were wondering “whether the oven was even turned on” when Boris Johnson promised voters his “oven-ready deal”. She said government estimates of 400m customs declarations a year would add £12.8bn in costs to British business. The new trading system will be phased in over six months with checks on food and goods of animal origin, as well as customs declarations on imports and exports at the border by July. Government insiders warned the new systems and process would apply whether or not there was a free trade deal and said it was “an important message” to get across to businesses. Extra layers of controls with veterinary certificates and health checks will be required for the import of food, live animals including racehorses and the wooden crates or pallets on which they are carried. If a trade deal is struck there will be additional checks on the origin of the goods and possible tariffs, depending on the agreement with the EU. Together they represent the reversal of 47 years of no trade barriers, including when the single market was launched in 1993. Gove insisted that the government was still in confidential “commercial negotiations” for the Brexit border facilities including a 27-acre site on the outskirts of Ashford.
He rebuffed demands from several MPs to name the shortlist of sites, causing anger at the lack of consultation with local communities over what many fear will lead to noise, air and water pollution. Damian Green, the Conservative MP for Ashford, asked Gove “what environmental impact assessment has been done” for the proposed site in his constituency as it was next to planned housing and the local hospital. Government sources said some of the five sites in Kent would be holding pens, or lorry parks, and not facilities for checking customs, transit and health certificates. Sources in Kent believe Ebbsfleet International and the disused Manston airport near Ramsgate are under consideration for lorry parks in the event of congestion on the roads to Dover. Manston has recently been given the green light to reopen as an air freight cargo hub but could still be used next year as a contingency for traffic congestion on the roads to Dover. Tim Reardon, the head of EU exit at the Port of Dover, welcomed the confirmation of inland controls as gridlock was otherwise almost a certainty in the town. “They’ve taken on board the key principles that they need to get the processes moved away from the border, but there is still a lot of work to be done to finalise everything,” he said. Many industry leaders have warned that the government has left the infrastructure and IT systems too late to develop, threatening chaos in the first few months of 2021 if lorries arrive in Dover or Calais without the right paperwork. The government has already delayed the implementation of full border controls for EU imports for six months because of the coronavirus pandemic. The plan has caused internal friction at cabinet level, with the international trade secretary, Liz Truss, last week protesting it would leave the UK vulnerable to smuggling and a legal challenge by the World Trade Organization. On Monday there wasfresh sabre-rattling from former Brexit campaigners on the Tory backbenches about the likely shape of an EU trade deal. They have seized on a report published by the new thinktank the Centre for Brexit Policy, which argues that the government could repudiate aspects of the withdrawal agreement if it believes the EU not to be using its “best endeavours” to negotiate. The former Brexit minister David Jones, deputy chairman of the European Research Group, said the report had “crystallised a whole range of concerns” among Conservative MPs. In particular, they claim that EU demands of a “level playing field” compromise UK sovereignty. The former Brexit secretary David Davis said the government should threaten to reopen the financial settlement between the two sides as a negotiating tool. “We should say, ‘I think we need to talk again about the money,’” he said. Another former minister, Iain Duncan Smith, said he was convinced ministers were studying the report seriously. But asked whether the government was considering renegotiating the agreement, Boris Johnson’s spokesman said on Monday: “The prime minister already successfully renegotiated the withdrawal agreement, securing a new deal that works for the whole of the UK and moves us forward to a new partnership with the EU based on a comprehensive and ambitious free trade agreement.” Monday’s document also reveals new customs declarations reminiscent of pre-duty-free days. From January, anyone carrying goods worth more than £1,500 in a small vehicle will have to declare the goods using the red channel, with additional controls for more than £10,000 in cash. This will apply to couriers who are transporting it on behalf of business. Customs forms will also have to be filled out for people receiving goods through the post that do not exceed £900 in value.