Mr. Niall Cody:

I was not trying to hide anything when I said we were not looking for sites. It was not in the sense that we had plenty of them but rather that we are not looking at that traditional type of customs post. On the scepticism around IT solutions, one always has to be careful about who one is listening to and what the various vested interests and approaches are.

As I stated in my opening remarks, the European Commission has competence in regard to customs policy but each administration and country has the responsibility to implement customs control. We are subject to a comprehensive audit programme by EU audit every year, and there is the potential to challenge us if we are not doing things properly. One never gets a clean bill of health from any auditor. We generally have an agreed process of changing and addressing concerns. There is the idea of an IT solution. The EU policy is to go to an IT-based customs process that is totally paperless. The Vice President of the European Commission gave a speech at the European Parliament last week about evaluating customs performance and management as a tool to facilitate trade and fight illicit trade. A key issue is the integration of IT systems, and that is what the development is about.

Members may wonder why I have not spoken about smuggling. In setting any tax or customs system, one must provide the framework for the legitimate business that wants to apply. That is the first thing and it must be in place; it must be as easy to comply with as possible, having regard to the rules. We must also tackle the people who do not abide by the rules, and we have ongoing arrangements and relationships with other agencies in the field. We have gone through a process in the past five or seven years relating to fuel fraud, smuggling and laundering. I do not need to tell members about some of what goes on. The Grant Thornton report on smuggling had figures that are not compelling as they overstate the position. That is not to say there is no smuggling, and we are very familiar with it. We deal with it week in and week out, and that is why, on occasion, there will be patrols and joint operations to deal with smuggling. There are all sorts of other matters in that area that we will have to deal with.

Food integrity is clearly a major challenge, and the agrifood sector will need careful handling. It is primarily one of the areas that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine will lead on. There is an integrated nature to the supply chain of the agrifood sector, which is probably the biggest sectoral challenge. It is interesting in the context of the task force as this issue is primarily driven by environmental health, so DG SANTE leads in that regard, and we are kind of subcontractors after the event. Nobody underestimates the challenge that Brexit brings but we will be starting from a position of an equivalence of standards. As Mr. Keegan argues, when somebody leaves the club, equivalence changes over time. That is an asset challenge but we will be a support to agriculture in that area.