The government needs to set out its contingency planning in the event of its not achieving a deal with the EU by the end of the negotiating period, MPs have warned.
The cross-party Exiting the EU Committee, chaired by Hilary Benn MP, this week called for an economic and legal assessment of the situation should the UK fall back on World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. Its report, The government’s negotiating objectives: the White Paper, states that the government’s assertion that “no deal is better than a bad deal” is unsubstantiated.
Benn said: “Falling back on WTO terms would mean not just a return to tariffs, but the reappearance of non-tariff barriers.
“That would mean more paperwork, border checks and bureaucratic requirements for British companies trading with the EU. For many businesses these can be far more costly than the actual tariff itself.”
The report also calls on the government to prioritise obtaining clarity on whether the UK can continue to trade with non-EU countries through the more than 50 free trade agreements that it is party to through the EU.
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