The UK Government published the final version of the UK Border Target Operating Model on 29th August 2023.
The document lays out the United Kingdom’s post-Brexit border controls, to be implemented from January 2024.
Below are the key updates to our assessment of the earlier draft, which was published in April.
This plan will affect anyone importing goods to the UK – from the EU or elsewhere. Every business importing goods into the UK will need to adjust to new processes, particularly those importing food, plant or animal products.
UK businesses trading with Northern Ireland will fall under the new Windsor Framework, agreed between the EU and UK in March 2023. You can read our analysis here of the Windsor Framework.
Our timeline below summarises the changes:
It’s a ‘targeting operating model’ for the UK border. In other words, a plan for the UK’s post-Brexit border controls.
All goods – but particularly food, plant and animal products. There’s a bit about people too.
Anyone importing goods into the UK, particularly if you’re importing food, plant or animal products.
It means the UK is ditching many border processes inherited from the EU. New processes will apply to food, animal and plant products from the EU. The same UK controls will apply to EU and RoW goods.
What are SPS controls? SPS controls are import rules applied to food, animal and plant products to protect the bio-security of the UK.
What’s changing for SPS controls? The UK is:
When? From January 2024.
Why? The UK has not applied SPS controls to imports from the EU since Brexit. The government aims to do two things: 1) to protect its border with the EU and 2) to simplify complicated processes it inherited from the EU.
What will this mean for businesses trading SPS goods?
What are S&S (or ENS) declarations? S&S declarations inform border officials about the contents of individual consignments to check for security risks. The UK has suspended S&S declarations on EU imports since Brexit.
What’s changing for Safety and Security Declarations? The UK is:
When? In October 2024.
Why? The government hopes to have a single digital platform (‘Single Trade Window’) to automate a large part of the S&S requirement.
What will this mean for businesses trading goods?
After years of delay and indecision, the UK appears finally to have settled on a policy for controlling imports through its border.
There’s much to recommend. The plans should simplify border processes, reduce bureaucracy and accelerate automation.
But for EU trade, these proposals will still feel like an additional burden: since leaving the EU, the UK has, essentially, left the border open.
Non-EU trade, however, will benefit from simplifications to health certificates and reduced processes for low risk goods.
EU and non-EU trade will be treated equally.
But the devil lies in the detail. The real opportunity will depend on whether the UK can achieve three things:
And of course the biggest requirement of all: to deliver a new scheme with an industry scarred by years of delay.
If you import goods into the UK from the EU or anywhere else, you need to understand the UK Border Target Operating Model. You should
clearBorder are experts in import and export processes for international trade. We have a detailed understanding of existing processes and the UK government’s plans for border modernisation. Contact us for advice on the UK Border Target Operating Model and how we can help you prepare here.