Alternative Arrangements
This is a longer version of a piece written for BBC Reality Check
The Prime Minister sees alternative arrangements as the key to unlocking a Brexit deal.
These are ways of making sure the controversial Irish border backstop is replaced or never used.
Boris Johnson has praised the work of the ‘Alternative Arrangements Commission’, a body led by Conservative MPs Greg Hands and Nicky Morgan.
What are alternative arrangements?
These are ways of trying to maintain a soft Irish border without regulatory alignment between the UK and the EU.
This is important to Brexit supporters who want to leave the EU’s customs union and have the freedom to diverge from EU regulations.
It is normally used to refer to a package of technical, technological and administrative solutions.
At the heart of the Alternative Arrangements report is the widespread use of trusted traders schemes for cross-border businesses, which would minimise the need for any checking of goods.
What is a trusted trader scheme?
It is a way of certifying that a company is reliable in customs and other trade processes and is entitled to benefits as a result.
The most common trusted trader arrangements are Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) schemes.
To qualify companies must show they are solvent, have robust record keeping processes and meet safety and security standards.
If a business has AEO status benefits can include fast track customs processing and self assessment of customs duties.
It does not guarantee goods will never be checked when crossing a border however it will mean a lower customs risk score so checks will be rare.
Applying for AEO status can be a complicated and time consuming process so is generally only sought by larger businesses.
The Alternative Arrangements Commission suggested a tiered system of trusted trader approvals so that smaller businesses in Northern Ireland could also benefit.
For a trusted trader scheme to have any benefit to UK traders it would have to be part of a mutual recognition agreement with the EU.
Trade experts have also cautioned that these schemes are not an absolute guarantee of frictionless trade.
What other arrangements have been proposed?
Another major plank of the Alternative Arrangements Commission report was the use of what is known as Customs Transit.
It allows customs clearance formalities to take place at the destination of the goods rather than at the point of entry into the customs territory — so any processes happen at company premises rather than at the border.
This would be supplemented by mobile inspection teams to inspect the goods at the location mentioned on the transit documents.
Use of customs brokers is proposed for small businesses, with the very smallest firms being exempt from any new procedures.
This would increase costs and complexity for small business exporting goods from Northern Ireland to Ireland and there would need to a big increase in customs broker capacity.
What about food standards checks?
Food standards are one of the most difficult border issues due to strict EU rules which mean food products entering from a non-member state must be subject to checks at the point of entry.
If the UK is outside the single market after Brexit that could mean products being exported from Northern Ireland to the Republic would have to be checked at border inspection posts.
Trusted trader schemes and transit procedures are no real help with this issue as they deal with customs.
The Alternative Arrangements Commission suggested that food standards checks could be carried out by mobile units away from the border.
Currently this would not be possible under EU law so would require a derogation for Ireland.
The Alternative Arrangements Commission concedes that some sort of regulatory alignment is the best way to tackle this issue.
Has the UK government produced its own alternative arrangements plan?
The Alternative Arrangements Commission is the product of a think tank, not a government report.
The government has formed three advisory groups to make recommendations on alternative arrangements.
They are composed of business and trade union representatives, technical experts and parliamentarians.
The groups only began to meet in June and it is not clear when they will report.
What has the EU said?
The EU has committed to working on alternative arrangements, but only once a deal which includes the backstop is in place.
It set out its position in detail in the ‘Strasbourg declaration’ in March.
It committed to fast-tracking negotiations on replacing the backstop with things like customs cooperation, facilitation and technological solutions.
These negotiations would be reviewed at a high level conference every six months.
It also made clear that that an agreement covering alternative arrangements to the backstop could stand alone, or be part of a wider package of future relationship agreements.
RTÉ’s Brussels correspondent Tony Connolly has reported that EU officials have suggested that any alternative arrangements would have to meet five tests:
Avoiding a hard border
Complying with the EU customs code
Complying with EU principles
Complying with WTO rules
Protecting the all-island economy
What about the Irish government?
The Irish government remains sceptical that the technical and administrative fixes will be enough to guarantee a soft border.
Speaking at an EU summit in June the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said: “We can’t accept that alternative arrangements are an alternative to a backstop unless we see what they are, know how they would work and see them demonstrated.”
“That hasn’t been done yet and I don’t see that being done this side of October 31, which is why we certainly can’t accept the deletion of the backstop.”
The Irish government has also emphasised that any solution is not just about avoiding checks at the frontier — it is also about avoiding new checks away from the border.
It points to the 2017 Joint Report of the EU and UK, a interim deal, in which there was a commitment to avoid a hard border, “including any physical infrastructure or related checks and controls”.
Brexit supporters say that only prohibits checks and controls at the border. The Irish government disagrees.
