Theresa May tells UK firms stockpile goods in warehouses under chaotic no deal Brexit
- The government has told British firms to consider setting up warehouses to store goods in preparation for delays caused by a no deal Brexit.
- Failure to secure a deal would create huge delays due to new checks on customs and regulations.
- The government has published the first batch of notices about no deal Brexit preparations.
- Elsewhere, the notes warn that credit card costs for UK customers could increase, and say tobacco companies would need to create new packaging for cigarettes as the EU owns current copyrights.
- The notes did not make lengthy reference to the rights of EU citizens, the Irish border issue, or the potential need to stockpile medicines.
LONDON - The UK government has told businesses who transport goods to the EU to consider setting up warehouses for storing goods in preparation for delays caused by a no deal Brexit.
In its first batch of notes on no deal preparation, the government says companies that sell goods to the EU should consider "warehousing" as failure to secure a deal would create delays through new checks on customs and regulations.
Leaving the EU without a deal would unleash an array of red tape on UK exporters, including declarations on customs and safety, the notes say. British companies would also need new licenses to continue exporting to the continent.
Lorries transporting goods between the UK and the EU currently take around 2 minutes to be checked at British ports. However, new checks would create longer delays, and business should think about acquiring "software" and working with freight and logistics companies to ensure their supply chains are able to cope, the note says.
'Sensible, measured, and proportionate'
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab unveiled the government's first set of no deal Brexit notices at a press conference in central London on Thursday morning.
Raab called the measures a "sensible, measured, and proportionate approach to minimising the impact of no deal on British firms, citizens, charities and public bodies."
But he said in the speech that a no-deal scenario could prevail if "the EU doesn't match our ambition and pragmatism."
The notes, which contain 25 of 84 no deal Brexit technical notices the government is set to publish, outline Theresa May's plans to stick to EU rules in areas like medicine and blood in order to prevent chaos in the NHS.
Correspondence between NHS chiefs leaked to the press this week warned that leaving the EU without a deal would put UK hospitals at risk of drug shortages and make the spread of disease more likely.
Elsewhere in the notes, the government says that credit card transactions between the UK and EU would increase, meaning online shopping will become more expensive under a no deal scenario.
Tobacco companies will be required to create new packaging for their products as the European Commission owns the copyright for pictures currently printed on cigarette packets.
The notes did not make significant reference to a large number of key risks for a no-deal scenario, including the rights of EU citizens in the UK, the potential need to stockpile medicines, and the dangers associated with a new border on the island of Ireland would be managed.
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