UK shelves £110m frictionless post-Brexit trade border project | International trade
The UK government has shelved a project to simplify post-Brexit trade border processes after spending £110 million on a contract with Deloitte and IBM, according to reports.
The last Conservative government promised in 2020 to create “the world’s most effective border” by 2025 as part of its plan for a new trading system after Britain leaves the EU.
The government hoped that the “single trade window” (STW) would simplify border processes by creating a single digital platform where importers and exporters can upload all documents linked to goods before they are shipped. However, the STW project was paused in 2024 due to concerns about costs.
Government responses to freedom of information requests submitted by think tank TaxWatch, seen by the Financial Times, show no money has been spent on the project since January last year, with the Treasury writing that the scheme was “shut down early”.
A series of delays have disrupted post-Brexit border arrangements. The National Audit Office estimates the government will spend at least £4.7bn on post-Brexit border controls in 2024.
TaxWatch director Mike Lewis told the FT: “The single trading window has been scrapped for all intents and purposes without delivering anything after HMRC or Deloitte and IBM spent more than £110 million. But neither HMRC nor ministers appear to want to accept this.”
The government said “delivery” of STW has been paused for the 2025-26 financial year but “policy development” continues. However, there is no definitive time frame for its implementation yet.
While the former Conservative government committed to STW, Keir Starmer’s Labor government also promised to deliver the project. A trade strategy policy document published last year said “the government remains intent on providing a single trade window” and is “committed to minimizing the administrative burdens and friction experienced by businesses trading internationally”.
Starmer has pledged closer alignment on trade with the EU under the “reset” deal announced last May, which aims to eliminate the need for border checks and health certificates.
However, any agreement on food standards and animal welfare, known as a sanitary and phytosanitary agreement, is currently being negotiated between the UK and the EU and may not be implemented until 2027.
A government spokesman said: “We are committed to delivering a single trading window, recognizing the potential benefits for trade, as set out in the trade strategy published in June last year. Policy development is ongoing and focused on designing a service that delivers real value to businesses and strengthens the UK’s border system.”
The news comes almost a decade after the Brexit vote in the 2016 referendum. Under the deal negotiated by Boris Johnson’s government, the UK has the right to duty-free trade with the EU. But access is limited by rules and restrictions and is still a long way from the UK’s previous membership of the single market and customs union.
Exports of goods were particularly affected; Volumes fell dramatically following the end of the Brexit transition period in January 2021. Exports of goods from the UK to the EU in 2024 were 18% below 2019 levels in real terms.
Deloitte declined to comment. IBM has been approached for comment.
