ABSTRACT
The changes to frontier controls affect both goods and individuals and their removal is seen as lifting the physical barriers to trade and travel. The plant and animal health sector has been the main area of delay in the entire White Paper timetable. The intention is to establish a harmonised system of plant health inspection and certification at the point of production in all member states. The movement of goods within the Community is also affected by the persistence of national quota restrictions and derogations from the common European Community (EC) commercial policy and other common policies. National protectionist pressures and sensitivities over health checks must thus be overcome, and transposed into common EC rules, if the free movement of goods is to be complete. The most contentious part of this policy so far concerns national protection against travellers carrying arias and/or drugs, and those involved in terrorism.
