UK Government Sets Up Critical Imports Council Amid Supply Chain Threats

The council, part of a broader strategy to guard against global supply chain disruptions, will advise on securing supplies of vital items such as medicine, minerals, food, and semiconductors.

• The UK government is setting up a critical imports council to tackle potential restrictions in supplies of vital items such as medicine, minerals, food, and semiconductors.
• The council is part of a strategy to guard against disruption to global supply chains from geopolitical fragmentation, extreme weather, and new technologies.
• Businesses will be asked to report disruption affecting critical imports via a new online portal so that government can act quickly.
• The strategy was conceived during the Covid-19 pandemic when supply chains were affected by factory closures around the world, but it has been given new impetus as attacks in the Red Sea threaten higher prices on imports.
• The government is under pressure to act as the UK is suffering from an unprecedented shortage of medicines, partly thought to be caused by tax rules and the dive in the value of the pound since Brexit.

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