As of tomorrow (30^th Jan), new UK border checks come into force for imports of food, drink, and plants from the EU. These come as a direct consequence of us leaving the EU four years ago.

On the face of it, you might think that this will not have much of an impact on your day-to-day lives. Think again; it is likely to result in delays, empty supermarket shelves and a hike in prices, all things the likes of Jacob Rees-Mogg, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage said would not happen and were just part of ‘Project Fear’ put about by Remainers.

The new border checks will require certification of goods and by the end of April will also require actual physical checks as well as the additional paperwork. Each certificate is expected to cost just over £40, added costs which many of the medium to smaller importers have indicated will cut their margins and will likely see them dropping out of the market all together.

The Government’s own estimate shows that the new border regime will cost businesses £330million a year and add 0.2% to inflation over the next three years.

These checks have already been delayed five times. They were initially supposed to come into force in January 2021.