Border controlCan technology and ‘max fac’ solve the Irish border question? Expert explains
How might the U.K.“take back control” of its borders without making the border in Ireland any harder? One proposal on the table is maximum facilitation (max fac). This approach does not avoid the creation of a customs border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland but rather aims to make the border as invisible and frictionless as possible through the use of technology.
How might the U.K.“take back control” of its borders without making the border in Ireland any harder? One proposal on the table is maximum facilitation (max fac). This approach does not avoid the creation of a customs border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland but rather aims to make the border as invisible and frictionless as possible through the use of technology. This includes electronic customs registration, unobtrusive screening techniques and even the technology behind Bitcoin.
But the application of technology cannot sugarcoat the fact that being outside the customs union will have a material impact on the Irish border. Such an impact jars with the U.K. government’s commitment that the Irish border would have “no physical infrastructure or related checks or controls”. For it is absolutely clear what a U.K.-EU customs border would mean. Goods moving between the two would be subject to customs supervision and this means checks and controls.
Electronic customs
Custom authorities around the world are keen to find technological means of improving efficiency. Paper forms have steadily been replaced by electronic customs declarations, which can be submitted more easily and enable quicker movement between different customs zones. For this reason, both the U.K. and the EU are in the process of creating fully electronic customs systems.
Singapore has just revealed the world’s first blockchain-based platform for electronic certificates of origin (eCOs). Blockchain is a way of recording transactions on a decentralized public register that’s very hard to tamper with, and is the technology behind bitcoin. Verification of eCOs through a private blockchain network helps prevent fraud and alterations of certificates of origin. This could address one issue that the U.K. and the EU face.
But this doesn’t go anywhere near resolving the risk of customs fraud on the Irish border. The difficulty of policing this border was exploited by smugglers even when it was heavily securitized.
