Independent
Michael Gove’s department is too complacent about the potential disruption Brexit could bring to vital trade and food safety, an influential Commons committee has warned.
In a critical new report, the Public Account Committee (PAC) sounded the alarm over fundamental issues for food, chemical and animal importers and exporters that are yet to be resolved and the lack of no-deal advice given to small businesses.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will be one of the Whitehall departments that is hit hardest by Brexit, due to the UK’s entanglement with complex EU’s environmental and farming laws.
Yet the PAC warned that many of its Brexit contingency plans are dependent on goodwill from the EU, the devolved nations and other departments.
It comes after Mr Gove, the environment secretary, was accused of “poaching” staff from Natural England, the agency responsible for protecting landscape and wildlife areas, in order to prepare his department for Brexit.
Exports of animals and animal products could be held up in the event of a no-deal Brexit as vets will need to sign off accompanying health certificates to goods going to EU states for the first time, the committee said.
It also warned of increased risks to food safety and smuggling if imports are allowed into the UK without checks at the border.
Labour PAC chair Meg Hillier said: “In the continued uncertainty about the UK’s future relationship with the EU, Defra’s civil servants must prepare for multiple and in some cases ill-defined scenarios.
“Anyone working in the dark is prone to stumble but in Defra’s case I am concerned that the department has lost sight of its priorities.
“The risks associated with ‘no-deal’ in particular are severe, and it is alarming how little specific information Defra has provided to enable individual businesses and organisations to prepare.”
Several critical IT systems are still to be tested, raising questions about plans for the border after Brexit, she said.
Ms Hillier added: “Defra is up against it but there is more it must do to assure parliament, businesses and the wider public that it has a firm grip on its responsibilities.”