UK Brexit Food Import Customs Clearance Deferred Again... "Due to COVID-19"

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The UK government announced on the 14th, as reported by The Guardian and others, that it will once again postpone Brexit (the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union) import customs clearance citing COVID-19 as the reason.

According to the report, the UK government stated that it will delay the schedule for implementing customs clearance and quarantine procedures for agricultural products and foodstuffs coming from the EU. As a result, some related procedures originally scheduled to start in October will be postponed to January or July next year. Some were initially planned to be introduced in April this year but have been postponed twice.

The UK government explained the reason for the delay by mentioning disruptions in supply chains across the UK and Europe due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that businesses need time to adapt to the new procedures. Penny Mordaunt, UK Secretary of State for the Department for International Trade, said, "The pandemic has caused prolonged economic damage to both the UK and the EU, and there is pressure on global supply chains," adding, "In this situation, the government decided to postpone."

Recently, logistics difficulties have occurred in the UK due to the combined effects of COVID-19 and Brexit. As the pandemic and rising global freight costs put pressure on global supply chains, agricultural products have not been transported properly, causing supermarket shelves to be empty and other issues. Some warn that if import customs clearance is introduced under these circumstances, the problems could become more severe ahead of Christmas.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.