Customs declarations will rocket from the current 50m a year to 250m after Brexit, overwhelming the country’s customs brokerage capacity and HMRC’s capability to manage physical processes, which is why we have developed digital Brexit solutions.

The government’s Border Operating Model, released by the Border and Protocol Delivery Group in July, definitively outlines Brexit border processes and responsibilities for EU/UK imports and exports, including the much-vaunted ‘light touch’ regime for imports and the opportunity to defer customs declarations, VAT and Duty for six months.

Access to the ‘light touch’ regime and its associated cashflow benefits require HMRC authorisation to use simplified procedures, which Metro holds and can offer to its customers.

Providing ‘light touch’ support to importing customers and submitting the critical declarations for exporting customers means that Metro will be processing up to an estimated fifty thousand additional customs documents every month and digital automation will be key.

We have been working on our own transition planning for the last few years, developing a suite of advanced software tools in-house. 

Our objective is to automate data receipt, analysis and output through machine learning, optical character recognition (OCR), artificial intelligence and data transfers to HMRC. 

We recognise that digital solutions will not be suitable for every customer or situation and a certain amount of human expertise is required for these interventions. 

Our HR team has been recruiting talent through the earlier phases of Brexit, predominantly  colleagues at all locations and we continue to take on new members of the team to accommodate the huge influx of customs entries and administrative processes that ensure our customers continue to trade seamlessly with The European Union.

We have recently added 10 new starters to the Brexit team, at our Birmingham facility and a recruitment drive is currently underway at our overseas business process outsource (BPO) operations in Malaysia and India, to assist with the automated platforms we are establishing directly with customs authorities.

For further information on how we will assist you in the new environment in 2021 please call Andrew White or Jade Barrow who are leading our Brexit Team Task Force and will have the answers to most of your questions as the situation continues to develop and unwind.

The British Chambers of Commerce has gone on the record to state their concern that only half of UK firms have considered the impact of Brexit on their operations, with just 52% carrying out any form of risk assessment.

Mr Gove told Parliament that it was up to firms to get ready for the end of the transition period.

"The consequences of a lack of business preparedness will be not just economic opportunities missed for those companies who don't prepare, but potentially much wider disruption," he said.

The BCC's director general, Adam Marshall. "With just 98 days to go, business communities face the triple threat of a resurgent coronavirus, receding government support schemes and a disorderly end to the transition period.”

"Despite recent public information campaigns, base levels of preparedness are low. Many firms say they've heard talk of deadlines and cliff-edges before, and others are still grappling with fundamental challenges as a result of the pandemic."

The BCC said companies were still in the dark on a number of issues, including:

- Firms do not know what rules of origin will apply after transition

- There is no clarity on how food and drink due to be sold in the EU and Northern Ireland is to be labelled

- There is very limited guidance on the movement of goods from Britain to Northern Ireland. Though this may be offset with the launch of the Trader Support Service

The BCC said firms needed more clarity and called on the government to "ramp up engagement with business urgently".

It complained of a lack of information with which to plan, while companies were suffering from "deadline fatigue”, which was exacerbating their lack of preparedness.

However fatiguing it is, the Brexit deadline is less than 65 working days away and those traders that are not yet prepared, need to take urgent action now to protect their business.

It is not unusual for trading companies to import virtually all their equipment and if they don't want to down customers because of delays at the ports, it is quite likely that in addition to dealing with import formalities for the first time, they may also have to take on paperwork that was previously handled by its suppliers.

It is critical that importers understand that there is no ‘light touch’ customs regime that does not require action on their part AND the EU has consistently stated that the UK exports will be subject to full customs checks. Light touch does not = no need for customs compliance !

IN SHORT YOU MUST PREPARE FOR BREXIT. The consequences of not being in a position to customs clear and comply with the new process or manage freight movements with the EU, and probably Northern Ireland, will result in an inability to trade goods with the European Union post transition period.

You can contact Grant Liddell or Chris Carlile, who are leading our 2021 EU withdrawal Task Team, to talk through your situation.

Or visit Metro’s ‘Brexit Ready’ web portal, which has been designed to prepare your business for the 1st January 2021.

The UK government plans to break international law, while launching the Trader Support System, to keep them compliant!

In a truly extraordinary admission to the House on Tuesday, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said the government will break the law in a ‘very limited and specific way’ over the EU Withdrawal Agreement.

They intend to give UK ministers the power to override parts of that international treaty with respect to Northern Ireland – for example, allowing ministers to waive export declarations on NI to GB trade if the issue isn’t settled in joint talks with the EU.

The UK’s intended ‘Internal Market Bill’ does not look like going away anytime soon!

The move itself has sparked outrage from Conservative MP’s, who say Britain must stand up for the rule of law.

What price a deal now?

And while on the subject of Northern Ireland, and perhaps not entirely un-coincidental, the government released an update on Tuesday specifically aimed at UK Traders who do business with Northern Ireland.

The Northern Ireland Protocol (NIP) was introduced to avoid a border on the island of Ireland and to allow free movement of goods between NI and ROI (and vice versa).  

To achieve this NI, although remaining in the UK customs territory, will operate to the EU customs code (UCC).  

The NIP requires some form of control on goods moving between GB and NI (the so-called border in the sea) because they are effectively entering the EU customs control zone and may be at risk of entering the Republic of Ireland. (See indicative process below.)

HM Government have eased the situation by creating the Trader Support Service, which is now open and available for registrations!

This is the UK Government’s one stop shop for all things customs related for UK Traders shipping goods to Northern Ireland.

It will assist with things like: Import declarations into Ireland, licences and certificates for products of animal origin. Small parcel couriers and International Trade shipments clearing through the UK and moving into Northern Ireland.

This is all in line with the Northern Ireland protocol which comes into force on the 1^st January 2021 and is a free to use service.

For any Trader on the mainland UK, who has elements of Trade with Northern Ireland, documentation queries and such like, it will be a must have. The service is now available online, so sign up today at the link below:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/trader-support-service

GB to NI process (extract):

1. GB supplier raises commercial invoice and charges UK VAT as normal 

2. No export declaration required

3. Export health certificate required if SPS goods

4. ENS entry safety & security declaration required 2 hours prior to arrival in NI

5. IPAFFS pre-notification of SPS goods

6. Import declaration to be pre-lodged, either full declaration or simplified

7. GVMS record generates GMR (goods movement reference)

8. Import entry arrived or finalised

9. Duty payable on goods 'at risk' of not remaining in NI

10. Goods are free to move on the island of Ireland but will attract duty if moved to ROI or (ultimately) no duty if they remain in NI

If you have not considered your Northern Irish post Brexit transition cargo movements we recommend that you consider this, until further notice and advice is given on a compromise with the EU, as an international market still adhering to the EU ‘rules’.

The effects and uncertainty of COVID is creating a parallel issue for UK businesses, who are already trying to navigate the shifting landscape of a post-Brexit trading environment.

On Monday we learned that the coronavirus alert level should move to 4, transmission is ‘high or rising exponentially’, as the Prime Minister announed new lockdown rules in the commons on Tuesday.

At a time of extreme insecurity, both for our personal health, and the health of our businesses, it is critical that we complete Brexit preparations, so that supply chains operate efficiently through a prolonged pandemic and the 1^stJanuary 2021.

As for politics, the Internal Market bill is unlikely to make it through the House of Lords, so expect a painful back and forth over many weeks, that will dominate parliamentary time, effort and political oxygen, while the government is trying to deal with another big crisis.

With even the most ardent Brexiteers suspicious of the government’s tactics, Boris continues to bang pots, crash conventions and create noise in the hope that bravado will get a deal over the line.

There is no denying that this is an uncomfortable moment - a strategy that could be worth it, if it shows the EU a seriousness of intent - but it remains unclear that the outcome will be worth the risk.

Meanwhile in Europe, The EU and UK have agreed to hold trade talks in Brussels next Monday as the two sides desperately try to find a way through the latest controversy, threatening to derail a Brexit deal.

The move flies in the face of some, namely France, who went so far as to suggest that Mr Sefcovic refused to meet the UK delegation until the offending clauses were withdrawn from the Internal Market Bill.

So next Monday’s meeting represents a major snub to French President Macron, who has been pushing hard for Eurocrats to open legal proceedings against Britain over an alleged breach of the divorce treaty.

Hardliners in Paris were quickly warned to be more cautious, because a hearing in the European Court of Justice could easily trigger a collapse in post-Brexit trade talks.

Now no-one would want that, would they?

Metro’s ‘Brexit Ready’ web portal has been designed to prepare your business for the 1st January 2021 

For further information on Metro’s brokerage services, please contact Grant Liddell or Chris Carlile who are leading our 2021 EU withdrawal Task Team.