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Review of the UK’s Future Relationship White Paper


An overview of the government White Paper on the Future Relationship between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU), published in July 2018


BIFA is a politically neutral body. Whilst individual BIFA Members may have strong opinions about Brexit, any views expressed in this article are driven by the BIFA Customs Policy Group which is a representative group of BIFA Members The danger in writing this article is that by the time it is


published the dynamics of Brexit may have rendered the White Paper obsolete. When published in July, BIFA gave a cautious welcome to the document, noting it was the most comprehensive


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proposal to date from the British government. This document focuses on Customs activity, but it covers all the wider aspects of the UK’s relationship with the EU.


New relationship Very early in the document, it is stated that the government is determined to build a new relationship between the UK and EU. It is re-affirmed that the UK will leave both the Single Market and Customs Union. Two other recurring themes are introduced, firstly that the UK seeks a broader relationship with the EU than any that currently exists between the EU and any other third country. The second theme is the need to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. For the trade in goods, government appears to have


listened to business arguments about the risks of imposing border controls. The White Paper refers to “frictionless access


September 2018


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