A new report from the UK’s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee has stated that any regulatory deviation from the existing global standards could be ‘self-defeating’ for the aerospace industry once the UK leaves the European Union (EU).

The report said that non-tariff barriers pose a significant risk to the industry, as delays of even just a few hours at the border are considered as a risk to the competitiveness of the sector.

Some evidence has already shown that growing verifications at the future UK-EU border could annually add £1.5bn to costs for the aerospace industry, which heavily depends on just-in-time supply chains.

The report also suggested that the UK could benefit from its continued membership with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). It states that an exit could be protracted and costly, offering no practical benefit.

“In a truly global industry, membership of EASA gives the UK access to markets across the world through internationally recognised safety standards.”

The committee has urged the UK Government to maintain its membership of Horizon 2020, Clean Sky Joint Understanding, and other collaborative research and development programmes.

It has further called upon the government to bring certainty and clarity by ensuring the country’s departure with a deal.

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Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee chair Rachel Reeves said: “The aerospace sector is one of the most productive and fastest growing in the UK but this success is highly dependent on participation in European and global supply chains. The health of the industry relies on components moving quickly across borders with delays of even a few hours having a significant impact on costs.

“Given this, the government must ensure custom procedures are kept to an absolute minimum after we leave the EU.

“In a truly global industry, membership of EASA gives the UK access to markets across the world through internationally recognised safety standards. Leaving would be completely counter-productive and leave the aerospace industry facing total chaos.”

Accounting for 7% of manufacturing output in the UK, aerospace directly employs 114,000 people.

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