Government Response

The Government responded to this petition on Tuesday 1st December 2020

The UK will not extend the transition period and the deadline to do so has passed. The Government’s priority is to ensure access to medicines and medical products: preparations for this are underway.

The deadline by when an extension could have been agreed, 1 July 2020, has now passed. The transition period ends on 31 December 2020. This is a matter of UK law, and a clear commitment of the 2019 Conservative Manifesto. The Government will not be extending the transition period in any circumstance, as ministers confirmed in Parliament on 5 October.

We left the EU with a deal back in January. Planning for the end of the transition period is well underway – coordinated by the XO Cabinet Committee – to make sure that we are ready to seize the opportunities of being outside the single market and the customs union.

On medical supplies, the Government’s priority is to ensure that patients continue to have access to medicines and medical products they need. The Government is working closely with the pharmaceutical industry, the NHS, and others in the supply chain to ensure that precautions are in place.

To minimise disruption that may occur at the end of the transition period, we have secured freight capacity to safeguard the flow of Category 1 goods such as human and veterinary medicines, medical devices, and clinical consumables regardless of the outcome of the negotiations.

Cabinet Office

This is a revised response. The Petitions Committee requested a response which more directly addressed the request of the petition. You can find the original response towards the bottom of the petition page (https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/329500)