William Bain, Head of Trade Policy at the BCC, said:

“Border arrangements for inbound goods to Great Britain need to be well planned, certain, efficient and deliverable to minimise supply chain disruption.

“The announcement of this delay is sensible given the ongoing issues with ensuring trader readiness, the need to build more border control posts and the skills shortages crisis. Food checks would come in at the time of year with the lowest imports from the EU.

“But businesses want certainty from Government. Ministers need to show them how they plan to step up rates of EU trader readiness for the new controls.

“They also need to know when the remaining border infrastructure, needed across all of Great Britain’s ports, will be completed and operational.

“And finally, they need to deliver efficient border arrangements for inbound goods to meet this new timetable.”