Downing Street is exploring yet another delay to post-Brexit border checks on goods entering the UK from the European Union to prevent industry warnings of a supply chain disaster.

Ministers are considering whether to delay for a fourth time a sweeping inspection of imports from the European Union, which was due to take effect on July 1, as part of a resolution to trade frictions and the cost of living crisis, officials briefed on the discussions said.

Brexit Opportunities Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg argued in a closed meeting this week that one benefit of leaving the EU would be to allow the UK to impose only lenient checks on imports. Goods from the EU are not subject to safety and security declarations, while food and plant products are not subject to physical inspection.

The 10th senior figure expressed “sympathy” for the idea of ??further delaying the new inspections beyond July, officials said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has yet to make a firm decision, but Rees-Mogg and former Brexit secretary Lord David Frost are urging an extension of the “grace period” for EU imports.

“Ministers are looking at this again given cost of living pressures and supply chain pressures. The war in Ukraine has also changed the economic environment,” an aide said, adding that Britain had been running out of checks for decades management under the circumstances.

UK exports to the EU have been subject to sweeping EU border checks since the first day of Brexit in January 2020 – while imports from European rivals have entered the UK much more smoothly.

Inspection comes first Delay exist June 2020followed by a further extension of the deadline March 2021 and again in September 2021.

Shane Brennan, chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, said the imposition of comprehensive veterinary controls on food imports from the EU would lead to a “collapse of supply” for British businesses that rely on frequent shipments of small quantities of fresh food from the EU.

“Given ongoing inflationary costs and supply chain pressures, a further delay makes sense, even if it exacerbates the ongoing inequity between EU importers and UK exporters,” he said.

James Withers, chief executive of Scottish Food and Drink, said any delayed decision would anger many exporters. “This makes sense given the ripples the Ukraine crisis has created in supply chains, but will no doubt kill the throats of many exporters who have now 15 months to deal with paperwork that our EU rivals don’t have The job tsunami. Face it,” he said.

However, the Food and Beverage Federation, the main trade body for UK food processors, said that while full control was important in the long run, the crisis in Ukraine – particularly the damage to supplies of wheat, sunflower oil and whitefish – Justified the measures taken. Delay.

The UK’s trade performance has been much slower to recover from the pandemic than comparable advanced economies.

Last week, the Office of Budget Responsibility, an independent financial oversight body stick to its assumptions “Leaving the EU would result in the UK’s total exports and imports being 15% lower than it would have been if the UK was still a member”.

A person close to Rees-Mogg said the “own cost” was out of proportion to the local risk. “At a time when inflation and supply chain difficulties remain high, we should not introduce onerous checks that would cost ourselves, businesses and consumers,” he said.

His position echoes that of Frost, he Say Last month: “We have to live with EU control. But . . . we should have a light-touch border with the whole world. This is Brexit’s chance.”

Rees-Mogg urged other ministers to await the conclusion of the government’s plan to digitize border processes by 2025 to create “the most efficient border in the world”, which he is now in charge of.