LONDON, Dec 31 — British firms face the introduction of much-delayed post-Brexit border control checks from Jan. 1 which will affect businesses importing US$314 billion of goodsa year from the European Union.
Martin McTague, vice-chair of the Federation of Small Businesses , warned the switch to import checks was likely to cause significant disruption at a time when trade is already being hit by COVID supply chain problems and labour shortages. A survey by the British Chambers of Commerce in October showed that 45 per cent of companies found it very or relatively difficult to trade goods with the EU, up from 30 per cent in January when the deal came into effect.