TCA, THE EU USES LEGAL CHANNELS

In a statement on March 11, 2021, Michael Gove, Minister of Boris Johnson’s Cabinet Office, announced an extension of all control activities on goods entering the UK, due to the continuing health emergency. But the EU does not agree with this postponement.

Deferral to January 1, 2022 of the possibility to use the deferred declaration system, including the submission of additional declarations up to six months after the import of the goods, with the exception of goods subject to UK control and the request for declarations on safety and protection for imports. Deferral to a period between October 1, 2021 and March 1, 2022 of most sanitary and phytosanitary controls. On March 15, the EU Commission sent the United Kingdom a letter of formal notice for breach of the substantive provisions of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland and of the obligation of good faith under the Withdrawal Agreement, initiating formal infringement procedure for fear that the Irish border could becom a  passepartout for the entry into the EU of goods burdened by restrictions and commercial policy measures. In the absence of a shared solution, the EU could suspend its   obligations under the agreements signed and impose, for example, duties on imports of goods from the UK.