Postponement of sanitary and phytosanitary controls to the end of 2023

The British government has announced that it is postponing once again, to the end of 2023, complete application of sanitary and phytosanitary controls (SPS) to imports into the UK from the EU along with the requirement for safety & security declarations.

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©HAROPA PORT / Eric Houri

The following checks, whose introduction had been scheduled to start on July 2022, will not be implemented:

  • the obligation to carry out additional sanitary and phytosanitary controls (SPS) on imports from the EU (currently carried out at destination) transferred to Border Control Posts (BCP), 
  • the requirement for safety and security declarations for imports from the EU,
  • the requirement for sanitary certificates and additional SPS checks  for imports from the EU,
  • bans and restrictions applicable to imports of refrigerated meat originating in the EU.

Those controls that have already been implemented will remain in place. The UK Customs Border Operating Model will be updated to reflect these changes. The grounds for this decision were set out in the press release issued by the UK parliament on 28 April 2022.