introduction
With your permission, Mr. President, I would like to make a statement about international travel.
I will begin by apologizing, because I share your frustration. It is true that the meeting which decides on this policy did not take place until Friday, and I immediately proceeded to make an oral statement following that. I understand how frustrating it is to read speculation in the newspapers, most of which turns out to be inaccurate, and I bring new information and the correct statement I will make this afternoon.
The past 18 months have been extremely frustrating for anyone looking to travel internationally and, of course, for the travel industry itself. In 2020, the only weapon we had to fight the spread of COVID was to simply keep people apart, preventing them from making all but the most urgent journeys.
However, this year has seen some very significant progress.
In February, the Prime Minister asked me to reconvene the Global Travel Working Group to develop a plan for safe and sustainable travel – the return of international aviation. A framework that allows us to coexist with endemic COVID-19 and live with the virus on our travels while protecting us from the most dangerous variants.
Thanks to the work of the task force over the past few months, we have initiated a gradual reopening of international travel, to allow families and friends to come together and businesses to get back on track.
Over the summer we implemented a number of improvements:
- Taking advantage of the progress of vaccine deployment at home and abroad, we have launched a pilot project to enable fully vaccinated passengers in the UK, Europe and the we travel to the UK from Amber List countries without needing to self-isolate or take a day 8 test
- we increased the number of countries and territories on the green list to 43 in September 2021
- we have authorized the full restart of international cruises in accordance with the traffic light system
Now, Mr President, at this last checkpoint, I am happy to be able to relax the restrictions further, while preserving public health and giving travelers confidence.
As one of the most vaccinated countries in the world, with more than 8 in 10 fully vaccinated, we must use this advantage to restore freedoms that have, of necessity, been lost over the past 18 months.
Extension of the inbound vaccination policy
The House will recall that in August we launched a pilot project to exempt from quarantine those who were fully vaccinated in the we and European.
This pilot project has been a success and I am delighted that it has given a much needed boost to international travel over the summer.
Throughout this crisis, I remained in regular contact with my counterpart, the we Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and I’m delighted that upon the Prime Minister’s arrival in the United States they agreed – and I can report to the House today (September 20, 2021) – that vaccinated Britons will be allowed to enter the we from early November, in return for the policy we introduced this summer. And this is a testament to the hard work and progress made by the Expert Working Group, set up after the G7 to relaunch the transatlantic journey, the flagship route of international aviation.
We will now be expanding the policy to a range of other countries, including Canada and Japan, starting October 4, for those who can demonstrate their fully immunized status, bringing the number of countries and territories to 50.
Mr President, the UK will now set the standards it expects other countries to meet in terms of certification so that their citizens can benefit from this change. We will gladly work with anyone who applies and can meet these standards to integrate them as well. And, I can tell the Assembly today, that we are in the final stages of this work with our friends from United Arab Emirates.
Because recovery is the best way to support the aviation industry, and as one of the most vaccinated countries in the world, we can now use our advantage to further liberalize travel while protecting public health.
Future trip
I would also like to inform the House of the next phase of the wider reopening of international travel.
Without a substantially vaccinated population, our attention was needed to consider countries and territories based on risk – hence the traffic light system. However, vaccines mean that the focus can now be on an individual’s status.
So I am pleased to announce that we will be introducing a new, longer-term framework for border sanitary testing and measures, which will remain in place until the new year at the earliest:
- Thus, from October 4, we will replace the traffic light system with a single red list of countries and simplified travel measures for arrivals from the rest of the world, depending on the vaccination status
- second, we will remove the requirement for fully vaccinated passengers to take a pre-departure test, if they are not traveling from a Red List country
- third, by the end of October, we will be 2 days away PCR testing a new lateral flow testing system for fully vaccinated passengers from countries not on the red list. If passengers test positive, then they will need to take a confirmatory test PCR test which will be genomically sequenced to identify and mitigate the risk of variants entering the UK. This PCR the test will be at no additional cost to the traveler
These changes will reduce the cost to passengers, simplify the international travel process and eliminate a major source of frustration.
Mr President, I would like to take this opportunity to confirm that the policy regarding children remains unchanged – they are simply treated the same as vaccinated adults, regardless of their vaccination status, if they reside in the UK or in one of the 50 countries and territories whose vaccinations we recognize.
Unvaccinated passengers, passengers with unauthorized vaccines or certificates not yet recognized in the UK from countries not on the Red List will still need to take a pre-departure test on days 2 and 8 PCR tests and self-isolate.
Transit
I can also speak in the House today about another important relaxation of the rules for those who change international flights or trains as part of their trip here. This change will ensure that passengers staying airside at airports and train stations will only be required to follow the metrics associated with their country of departure, rather than the countries they have passed through on their journey.
It will make a very substantial difference to travel by unlocking transit routes around the world.
Amendments to the Red List
Ahead of the transition to our new international travel framework, I can also confirm that Kenya, Oman, Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Egypt will be removed from the red list at 4 a.m. morning Wednesday September 22.
Conclusion
So, Mr President, the changes we are making mean a simpler and more straightforward system. A solution with less testing and lower costs, enabling more people to travel, see loved ones or do business around the world.
Our judgment is that these changes are the right ones for now, making it much easier for people to move around while retaining crucial protections against the worrisome variants, which remain the greatest threat. They will give the travel industry a much needed boost.
However, this is certainly not the end of the story. We will come back to these measures further at the start of the new year where we hope to be in a different context that will allow us to go further, before the reservation windows for the spring and summer holidays 2022.
And, most importantly, the changes I announced today demonstrate that – thanks to vaccination – there is a path back to normalcy after a scorching 18 months in which a lot of things we take for granted have been taken for granted. waiting. Now is the time for us to get our country back on the move. And I recommend this statement to this House.
