New postponement of controls on food exports to the UK

For the fourth time since brexit, the accompanying control measures for food and drink exports to the UK are being postponed, this time until the end of 2023. The digital certification is still not ready.

Waiting for digital certification

The UK's exit from the EU is now set for 31 January 2020. One of the consequences of the brexit was that, in time, there would be checks on food and drinks imported from the EU to the UK. More than two years later, the technology to support the corresponding digital certification is not yet ready. And so, for the fourth time, the deadline for the introduction of the controls has been postponed, this time to the end of 2023.

No additional controls for the time being

The controls that came into force at the beginning of 2021 for the import of animals and animal products will of course continue to apply, but additional import conditions are on hold until further notice. In concrete terms, this means that for the time being, UK customs authorities will not carry out any additional sanitary and phytosanitary checks on food and drink from the EU.

Also for the declaration of safety for EU goods and for additional health certificates for foodstuffs, the British government provides a postponement until the digital certification has been finalised and the British, European and Belgian systems are fully aligned.