In 2017, HM Revenue & Customs (HRMC) ran a six-week proof-of-concept trial to test the use of blockchain, distributed ledger technology, in coordinating customs activity at UK borders.

Despite the pilot being deemed a success, the government has said it will not lead to any further work until Britain has left the European Union (EU), which happens in just over a month.

Financial Secretary to the Treasury Mel Stride revealed in answer to a parliamentary question that the use of blockchain may be revisited in the future, but it’s likely to require a lot of work.

“Any significant implementation of blockchain would require significant further work by HMRC. Further work on the application of blockchain to Authorised Economic Operator status is deferred until after the UK leaves the EU when timescales and cost will be revisited,” he said.

Stride added that the results of the pilot are being used in the department’s Future Borders Programme.

“The pilot focused on building a single ‘permissioned’ blockchain that could be used to inform a trader’s Authorised Economic Operator status. The proof of concept ran for six weeks, and established that government could use blockchain to securely share the results of sensitive risk checks to improve the efficiencies of certain customs processes,” he said.

“We are working with the cross-government Future Borders programme to progress the pilot as part of their Trusted Trader initiative.”

Blockchain technology has been touted as a possible solution to the issues surrounding the Irish border, post-Brexit.

However, tech experts have expressed concerns over the government’s plans to rely on technology to solve any customer issues – a worry that was voiced last September by the House of Lords EU Committee, saying tech “does not yet provide the answer”.

A National Audit Office report from October 2018 revealed that the Public Accounts Committee has expressed doubt over the HRMC’s capability to get it’s existing systems ready for Brexit, with 11 out of 12 critical border IT systems at risk of not being ready.

Peter Ferry, Founder and Commercial Director of Wallet.Services, told DIGIT, that although the use of shared ledgers by HMRC had merit, the use of the technology would require HRMC to co-operate with the EU and due to the collaborative nature of distributed ledgers it would be difficult for the UK to use unilaterally.