Select committee: European Affairs Committee

Recommendation 37

4th Report - One year on—Trade in goods between Great Britain and the European Union Published 16 Dec 2021 Paragraph 206

European Affairs Committee Trade in goods All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗

Recommendation (the committee's words)

We are encouraged to learn that HMRC intends to take a supportive approach that seeks to help and educate non-compliant traders, rather than punish them. However, we call on the Government to clarify how this approach has been communicated to traders, how long it will last, and how they intend to balance a ‘light-touch’ approach to enforcement with the need to incentivise compliance in the medium-term.

From: European Affairs Committee, 4th Report - One year on—Trade in goods between Great Britain and the European Union, paragraph 206, 16 December 2021

Government response

Letter from Graham Stuart MP, Minister of State for Europe, Government's response to the committee's report on Trade in goods

The government responded to the whole report on 20 July 2022 (deadline 16 February 2022).

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government says it is open to further steps to reduce trade friction with the EU, but not on the basis of alignment with EU rules, and that the TCA is working smoothly.

On SPS, it states that the UK "must retain its ability to make rules that work for us", and that EU negotiators "do not have a mandate to negotiate such an SPS agreement".
On customs cooperation, it says the TCA does not currently provide the legal basis for a joint customs office, and it is "not aware of any significant issues" that would warrant reopening the TCA's arrangements.
On SME support, it says the SME Brexit Support Fund was always intended to close on 30 June 2021 and that "There are no plans to extend the scheme". HMRC is reviewing the fund to see what can be learned.
On governance, it says TCA governance "is running smoothly" and that "All committees will meet again over the course of this year". It describes the Commission's linking of Union Programmes to the Northern Ireland Protocol as "deeply disappointing".

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error

Government Response to the Report "One year on—Trade in goods between Great Britain and the European Union"

Published 23 March 2022.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Government welcomes the report, states that it "has considered the evidence, findings and recommendations carefully", and agrees with several recommendations while declining to restart the SME support fund.

On the Cabinet Office's coordinating role and on testing procedures with traders ahead of the July 2022 controls, the Government states "agrees with this recommendation".
On the SME Brexit Support Fund, the Government says there are "no current plans to restart" it, though HMRC will "consider interventions where needed" after the January 2022 changes.
On the EU fiscal representative requirement for VAT, the Government says it "will continue to actively press the EU". It reports that the EU noted the UK's request to amend the debt recovery threshold but was not open to amending it "at this time".
On remaining import controls, the Government states it "intends to implement all remaining border controls with the EU" as set out in the Border Operating Model, with SPS controls from 1 July 2022.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error