After acknowledging the view of industry and working with the Scottish and Welsh Devolved Administrations, the Government has delayed the introduction of remaining Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) controls, as well as full customs controls for non-qualifying Northern Ireland goods, until January 2024 to support stakeholders in preparing for further checks.
The revised timeline for the introduction of controls is as follows:
- 31 January 2024 – The introduction of health certification on imports of medium-risk animal products, plants, plant products and high-risk food (and feed) of non-animal origin from the EU.
- 30 April 2024 – The introduction of documentary and risk-based identity and physical checks on medium-risk animal products, plants, plant products and high-risk food (and feed) of non-animal origin from the EU. At this point Imports of Sanitary and Phytosanitary goods from the rest of the world will begin to benefit from the new risk-based model.
- 31 October 2024 – Safety and Security declarations for EU imports will come into force from 31 October 2024. A reduced dataset for imports will be published alongside.
The Cabinet Office also held an all stakeholder call on 29 August to provide an overview of the BTOM. Further information on the final Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) can be found here.
