§ Sir Anthony Meyerasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made in securing easier cross-border movement of goods in the European Economic Community.
§ Mr. ChannonOver the past few months we have secured agreement on a series of practical measures in the Community to ease cross-border movement of goods; in particular:
- —common core opening times at adjacent frontier posts;
- —the elimination of duplication between customs and specialist checks of goods vehicles;
- —the provision of express clearance lanes at frontiers for transit traffic;
- —a move to the United Kingdom system of random only checks on goods vehicles;
- —a reduction in the paperwork and costs of temporary importation of tools of the trade, low value commercial samples, and goods for fairs and exhibitions.
We hope that agreement will be reached later this year on a single administrative document which could replace up to 70 different customs documents used by national administrations in the Community. I will press for further progress to be made during the Irish presidency of the Community.