My Lords, I thank the Committee for this debate. I will seek to address the questions and observations raised, starting with those of the noble Lord, Lord Tunnicliffe.
I acknowledge that there have been some very dramatic movements in trade flows over the last few months, but I suggest that there have been exceptional circumstances, with some stockpiling, and it is hard to get a run rate at the moment. However, overall, we are encouraged by the process so far.
On the noble Lord’s query about the extension of waivers and assurances that we gave last year, we always wanted to have the flexibility to extend. I think the biggest event that has occurred since then which we were not aware of in December is the emergence of the much more virulent strain of Covid. This caused us to extend lockdown and restrict businesses’ ability to operate for longer than we would have hoped at the time.
In terms of the noble Lord’s concerns about the customs phone line, I am pleased to say that the customs and international trade helpline has been working well since the beginning of the year. The helpline has answered 97% of its calls since January, with an average speed of answer of 23 seconds. HMRC is offering this service over the weekend and on weekdays until 10 pm.
On customs agent capacity, the Government do not have a specific target or number of customs agents, because the sector is varied and made up of a number of different business models. For example, in the lead- up to the end of the transition period, we saw large investment in technology by a number of the larger intermediaries, which meant that their ability to handle declarations was well beyond that of simply adding more people. When thinking about readiness, it is helpful to think of the capacity to make declarations instead of the number of staff involved. We know that the intermediary sector has significantly increased this capacity to meet demand following the end of the transition period. The Government helped it to do this by making over £80 million in support available, including flexible grants that can be used for IT and training and recruitment. We are running an intermediary register on GOV.UK at the moment—for example, in the last two weeks, there have been 1,400 views of that page. There are 1,300 intermediaries listed on the register, of whom 93% say they have capacity, 92% say they are able to help small traders, 54% can support SPS checks and 309 can help with roll-on roll-off. We are improving the register all the time following feedback from traders and intermediaries.
The noble Lord asked whether we are likely to grant further extensions. The Government originally intended to introduce the full customs controls by 1 July but, given the impact of the pandemic, they are extending these facilitations to September and December. The Government do not plan to extend these waivers any further. Traders will need to comply with full safety and security declarations on exports from 1 October 2021 and on imports from 1 January 2022.
The noble Lord asked whether the customs issues have been kept under review during the current waiver period. With regard to any risks created by the waivers, Border Force has continued to undertake intelligence-led risk assessments and interventions on imports and exports since the beginning of the year, as it did before the end of the transition period. The noble Lord asked whether any of the risks have become a reality. During the period covered by the waivers, Border Force will continue to do as it has done up until now to protect the security of the UK, but I am happy to write to the noble Lord with figures expanding on the interceptions and work that it has been doing.
The noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw, asked about the cost of the safety and security process. Our EU exit is an opportunity for us to increase the amount of data we collect and thus the range and effectiveness of our interventions and the security of our borders. The collection of safety and security data on movements from the EU will allow Border Force to undertake additional targeting and checks on potentially dangerous goods movements from the UK. While we expect importers to face some increase in costs as a result of safety and security declaration requirements, these can vary depending on the businesses, how much they trade, and whether they use an intermediary. We do not know yet how importers will choose to manage declarations, which is often just one part of a wider customs process, and costs will also depend on factors such as the mode of transport and who the carrier is. Due to this uncertainty, an estimate of the administration burden costs for S&S declarations is not currently available.
Having listened to the feedback from businesses affected by Covid, we are providing them extra time to meet the requirements. This supports efficient customs arrangements and ensures that goods originating in the EU or UK are not subject to tariffs. Therefore, I commend these regulations to the Committee.