Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the forecasted additional number of customs declarations they will need to process as a result of the UK leaving the EU; and what additional resources they have earmarked for HMRC in order to process them.

Customs declarations are already required for all imports and exports and are being successfully submitted into HMRC systems and processed electronically.

In 2020, the total number of customs declarations submitted for international trade was 45.4 million, from UK trade with Non-EU countries.

In 2021, the total number of customs declarations submitted for international trade was 78.3 million, made up of 42.9 million from UK trade with Non-EU countries and 34.3 million from GB trade with EU countries.

Customs declarations may also be required by the Northern Ireland Protocol on goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

As a large organisation HMRC can and do build flexibility into our plans to ensure we have the necessary resources for future requirements as well as more immediate delivery