With just 35 (25 working) days until the end of the EU transition period both sides are trying to reach a trade deal, that will soften the blow of departure and avoid a shattering end that neither want.

Despite finance minister Rishi Sunak stating that “with a constructive attitude and goodwill on all sides we can get there”, his subsequent comment “we absolutely should not be stretching for a deal at any cost, that is not the right thing to do” prompted European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said to say the EU was ready for the possibility of Britain leaving without a new trade accord.

Reuters report that an official involved in the negotiations said a deal was possible, but not likely before the weekend at the earliest. An EU diplomat said it was more likely to come next week.

The European Commission - where Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier is leading talks with Britain on behalf of the whole bloc - is due to update national envoys to Brussels on the latest in the trade talks at 08:00 GMT on Friday.

EU sources said Barnier himself may travel to London later on for more discussions with his British counterpart, David Frost, if there is a chance for a breakthrough.

Brexit minister Michael Gove is drawing the anger of the UK’s freight, logistics and supply chain sectors with his interpretation of post-Brexit trade with the EU, even as a test run of the new border checks resulted in five-mile lorry queues from Dover.

During Logistics UK’s Get Ready for Brexit webinar, Mr Gove provided little of substance and seemed to be using the occasion as an opportunity to rebuff suggestions that government had been seeking to direct blame for any chaos that may ensue.

Due to the impact of the pandemic, Mr Gove said many import controls due to take effect on the UK side of the border on 1st January would now be introduced in stages and he appeared to try to lay the blame for any chaos in January on EU members.

“What I cannot say is what the approach on the other side of the border will be. What I do know, though, is the approach the EU has taken throughout the process,” he said. “This is an approach of ‘rules are rules’ and when it comes to the checks, these will be applied.”

“I think we cannot expect a laissez faire approach to the new rules at Calais or at any of the other EU ports.”

“Another key concern is the prospect of disruption in Kent, and this has been a widespread concern since the vote to leave the EU. But this is also why we have invested in infrastructure and put in place mitigation measures if the worst comes to the worst.

However, Mr Gove’s announcements came less than 24 hours after a test run of post-Brexit border checks by French customs authorities resulted in queues of trucks stretching five miles along the M20.

Metro work closely with HMRC, BIFA and The Association of Freight Software Suppliers (AFSS) to follow the status of HMRC and EU post-Brexit systems and processes. 

We have developed a suite of bespoke, generic and automated solutions to protect your EU trade from the 1st January 2021. This includes our CuDoS (Customs Documentation Services) platform automating and digitalising customs submissions in the new European environment. 

For further information contact our post-Brexit Task Team and speak with Andrew White or Jade Barrow.

HMRC’s legacy declaration system Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) is over 25 years old and should have been replaced by Customs Declaration System (CDS) in 2019, but CDS is behind schedule and experts say it is unworkable.

One of the forwarding sector’s primary software providers, has written to HMRC stating it will not be offering or supporting a software solution that uses the Customs Declaration Service (CDS) for shipments in and out of Northern Ireland (NI), leading some local forwarders to withdraw operations from Northern Ireland amid increasing concern about the capability of UK customs systems to handle dual-tariff procedures post-Brexit.

When it was announced that CDS was the intended solution for delivery of the NI Protocol and would be required to go live on 1st January 2021 the software provider undertook a review of their readiness for that date. They established that with an amount of de-scoping it was possible that they could have a rudimentary solution available for supplementary import declarations towards the end of the year.

However they quickly established that there was no possibility of some critical import and export functions operating, as there are significant gaps in required functionality from the core HMRC CDS system and dual running when both CHIEF and CDS are in use.

They concluded there was no realistic chance of releasing a CDS compliant solution and training users/helpdesk staff before the end of March 2021. 

There are also significant reservations over the level of technical support that HMRC can provide. Supporting ten live users making a few thousand declarations a month is a very different proposition from handling the expected one million inbound NI and 40,000 outbound shipments per month.

CDS is not only a change of computer system it is a change of data elements and Customs regulations. Which means that forwarders, importers and exporters, who are required to provide the additional data that will be required, will need to update their electronic data exchange protocols, that may involve changes to both of their internal systems. These changes can typically take up to 18 months to complete.

It is in taking all of this into consideration that prompted the key software provider to consider that there is a totally unacceptable level of risk in mandating CDS and not having any workable contingency plans. 

There is no benefit to trade in using CDS, it is a decision based on the requirement to operate the UK and the EU tariff concurrently and the requirement to supply the EU with trade movement data. 

The spectre of paralysing the whole NI’s trade movements is real and there is doubt that the TSS [Trader Support Service] can mitigate this to an acceptable level. 

HMRC are being urged to look at viable alternatives, ideally using CHIEF which is currently in use and widely understood by all parties involved in trade with NI.

The final status of HMRC systems or the UK/EU trade deal, will not change the need for import and export customs declarations and other regulatory requirements may also be required, as the logistics landscape with the EU changes dramatically. 

As members of The Association of Freight Software Suppliers, Metro has bespoke, generic and automated solutions to protect your EU trade from the 1st January 2021. For further information contact our post-Brexit Task Team and speak with Andrew White or Jade Barrow.

In two days we have gone from the EU insisting the UK needed to remove part of its controversial Internal Market Bill that breach the withdrawal treaty in order to get the trade deal done, to UK business secretary Alok Sharma insisting the EU and UK “have made progress” and that an agreement could be reached next week.

While both sides have said major parts of the deal are complete, they remain unable to agree on the recurring sticking points of fishing rights and state aid rules.

EU negotiators are reportedly planning to provide envoys of the bloc’s 27 member states with an update on the trade talks on Friday morning, with talks likely to continue, providing Michel Barnier has a belief a deal is still possible.

The key point for business is that whatever type of deal we leave the transition period on, change is coming, and so businesses do need to urgently prepare for customs declarations.

While No.10 are insisting that the departure of advisor Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain, the Downing Street director of communications, will make no difference to EU negotiations, when it comes to the final decisions on whether to accept the deal on the table, the absence of Cummings and Cain could well “make a difference to rally political support in No.10.”

In a significant clarification of the ‘lightouch’ importing regimes announced in July, HMRC has launched a video to promote its new digital tool, that helps traders check if they can apply for authorisations to delay customs payments and declarations. 

The answer to this is a resounding no, unless they are already authorised to manage HMRC simplified procedures, which almost no importers are.

Metro has developed a suite of bespoke, generic and automated solutions to protect your EU trade from the 1st January 2021. This includes our CuDoS (Customs Documentation Services) platform automating and digitalising customs submissions in the new European environment. 

For further information check out our ‘Brexit Ready’ portal or contact our post-Brexit Task Team and speak with Andrew White or Jade Barrow.

After suffering an expected defeat in the House of Lords on Monday over proposed laws which could breach Britain’s EU exit treaty, the government has affirmed its intention to re-table the contentious plan, that has been explicitly criticised by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden.

Despite the President-elect stressing the importance of the Northern Irish peace deal in his first call to The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson insists the controversial clauses act as a safety net in case negotiations with the EU fail to work out how goods can flow between Britain, Northern Ireland, and across the open border with Ireland.

In the ongoing post-Brexit trade and security talks, the European Union has agreed to ring-fence police and judicial cooperation from potential sanctions in the event of any future trade rows with Britain, which is seen as a significant concession in a bid to unlock the wrangling over a post-Brexit deal.

EU negotiators have refused to drop demands for “cross-suspension” in the areas of the so-called level-playing field, transport, energy and fisheries – essentially allowing the EU to clamp down on most sections of the agreement as part of a dispute. 

The discussions over the dispute settlement mechanisms for policing any future deal have been described as a “serious problem”, according to EU sources.

After negotiations in Brussels broke up last week both sides agreed to hold extra sessions between Mr Barnier and Lord Frost’s top deputies dedicated to the governance structures.

HMRC’s new customs IT system, the Customs Declaration Service (CDS), is intended to replace the current Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (Chief) system and should have been live well before Brexit, but software developers at HMRC have had to focus on the old CHIEF, which has been in place for 27 years, but could only handle around 60 million customs declarations per year, to boost its capacity to 255 million declarations annually.

The Association of Freight Software Suppliers (AFSS), of which Metro are a member, said that “Even if they [HMRC] could deliver a minimum viable product, it is unrealistic to expect that end-users will have sufficient time and knowledge to learn the new processes for January 2021,” he said.

This is particularly true of the Northern Ireland (NI) and Ireland border, where HMRC has mandated that CDS and not Chief will be used.

The association’s members also face challenges beyond CDS, including managing integration to the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS), HMRC’s New Computerised Transit System (NCTS), which will record and manage goods coming into the UK, and the old Chief system, among others.

The final status of the UK/EU trade deal and HMRC systems, will not change the need for import and export customs declarations and other regulatory requirements may also be required, as the logistics landscape with the EU changes dramatically. 

Members of The Association of Freight Software Suppliers, Metro has bespoke, generic and automated solutions to protect your EU trade from the 1st January 2021. For further information contact our post-Brexit Task Team and speak with Andrew White or Jade Barrow.