Recommendation 23

The NAO report notes that, since the end of the transition period, the UK government has chosen to prioritise the flow of goods over compliance, but that, after the introduction of import controls, departments will no longer be able to prioritise flow to the same extent and will need to put in a new compliance regime to manage the fiscal and regulatory risks of goods crossing the border.69 Dr Jerzewska told us that there were some requirements that were already in place, such as in relation to rules of origin, which were not yet being 61 Qq 181, 182 62 Q 140 63 Qq 109, 143 64 C&AG’s Report, para 3.2 65 Qq 144, 146, 158 66 Q 154 67 Q 157 68 Q 166 69 C&AG’s Report, para 3.34 EU Exit: UK Border post transition 17 fully enforced as compliance is not yet at the top of anyone’s priority list.70 She also noted that getting traders used to new requirements was a process and the sooner the government started enforcing compliance, the better it would go.71 HMRC acknowledged that the sooner it could implement full import controls, the better it would be able to manage fiscal risks.72 It told us that the aim of introducing controls in a staged way was to maintain flow as it tightened up control and management of fiscal risk and that it was confident that it could move to the next stage of implementing full controls without disrupting flow.73 It also said that controls at ports were strict in terms of lorries getting access to ferries and that lorries that do not get ready for the beginning of January will find that they are going to get turned away from the port in Calais, and that they will learn a lesson from that.74