Importers from EU risking fines and worse

Importers from EU risking fines and worse

May 6, 2022 | , ,

The EU introduced full import controls at the end of the Brexit transition period, while the UK government has now delayed full import control four times, with concerns rising that UK importers are not making appropriate declarations, risking fines and penalties.

The UK government’s own Public Accounts Committee officials warned months ago that much remains to be done to introduce import controls and the government’s aspiration to create the most effective border in the world by 2025 is a noteworthy ambition, but it is optimistic, given where things stand today.

Ambition is usually good – but it needs to be deliverable.

The decision to defer food checks and security declarations due to come into force in July is raising fears that more import shipments will not be properly declared by importers, or subject to HMRC scrutiny.

The Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) is HMRC’s IT platform for moving goods into or out of Northern Ireland and Great Britain, but its rollout, adoption and operation has been fraught with issues for UK border officials. Concerns are mounting that import shipments are simply bypassing the system’s oversight and weaknesses will continue to be exploited until import safety and security declarations are introduced, which will not be before the end of next year.

Without safety and security declarations being imposed on the 1st July, Border Force officials cannot see what needs to be stopped and which arrivals are without pre-lodged declarations, which means vehicles coming off the ferry could be carrying any number of undeclared shipments.

Reports in the trade press accuse some hauliers of taking opportunistic shortcuts without understanding the repercussions that may follow and until GVMS is operating effectively there may be little chance to restore order.

While deferred entries ended last June there are suggestions that some hauliers still use the entry in declarant’s record (EIDR) shortcut for GVMS entries, with others ticking the ’empty vehicle’ option for GB inbound.

Part of the problem is that a goods movement reference can be finalised via GVMS with the entry of just one ‘movement, or employer, reference number (MRN/ ERN), running the risk that hauliers could avoid declaring all shipments onboard a truck.

HMRC told the press: “HMRC has a strong track record in tackling all kinds of avoidance, evasion and non-compliance, and we will continue to employ an end-to-end approach to tackling customs risks.”

We always saw the EIDR delayed declaration scheme process as fundamentally risky, which is why none of our importers adopted it, opting instead for full clearance and consequently no liability to HMRC. 

It is now clear that there will be issues arising from HMRC’s border ‘easements’ and potential pitfalls, that we are pleased our customers have avoided.

Our CuDoS customs brokerage platform is optimised continuously, in line with the regimes in force on both sides of the Channel, automating and submitting customs declarations, for simple and compliant border processing in either direction.

To learn more and to discuss your trading objectives, please contact Elliot Carlile who can talk you through the options.

EU/UK border controls set for July put back again

EU/UK border controls set for July put back again

May 6, 2022 | , ,

The UK government has again delayed the introduction of further border controls on goods from the EU, due for implementation from July, pushing them back until the end of 2023, suggesting it did not want to add more costs at a time of fast-rising inflation.

New import controls, including on EU food products, due to begin in July of this year, have been put back for a fourth time, with the government saying “it would be wrong to impose new administrative burdens and risk disruption at ports” at a time of higher costs due to the war in Ukraine and rising energy prices.

The government said. “British businesses and people going about their daily lives are being hit by rising costs caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine and in energy prices. It would therefore be wrong to impose new administrative burdens and risk disruption at ports and to supply chains at this point. The remaining import controls on EU goods will no longer be introduced this year – saving British businesses up to £1 billion in annual costs.”

Port operators, many of whom have already built border control posts, have reacted angrily, saying the government’s announcement is a major policy change and that the facilities could become redundant, wasting millions of pounds of public and private funding.

Specifically, the following controls which were planned for introduction from July 2022 will now not be introduced:

•   Safety and security declarations on EU imports

•   Health certification and SPS checks for EU imports

•   Prohibitions and restrictions on the import of chilled meats from the EU

•   Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) checks on EU imports currently at destination to be moved to Border Control Post (BCP)

Current import controls on EU goods will stay in place and traders will continue to move their goods from the EU to GB as they do now:

•   Import Customs Declaration

•   GVMS declaration

•   Pre-notification into IPAFFS for POAP, Live animals, Plant Products

The government’s statement confirmed that no further import controls on EU goods will be introduced this year and that businesses can stop their preparations for July now. In many ways this can be  considered a good thing that is positive for business; in other ways just further delays that will occur at some point that will need to be addressed.

They will now publish a Target Operating Model in the Autumn that will set out the new regime of border import controls and will target the end of 2023 as the revised introduction date for the control’s regime.

Metro are at the forefront of delivering EU customs brokerage solutions, with our automated CuDoS declaration platform and a dedicated team of over 40 customs experts.

Now available to new customers, our CuDoS customs brokerage platform is optimised continuously, in line with the regimes in force on both sides of the Channel.

Automating and submitting customs declarations and associated paperwork, CuDoS simplifies compliant border processing, in either direction. 

To discuss your situation and to learn how we automate customs declarations for businesses of all sizes, please contact Elliot Carlile to talk through the options. 

Third of businesses not prepared for EU customs changes

Third of businesses not prepared for EU customs changes

Mar 10, 2022 | , , ,

With the multiple transitions, extensions and grace periods granted by the government, to minimise the impact on supply chains, of cutting trade ties between the UK and EU, 30% of businesses were still ‘not at all prepared’ for customs controls, when they were reintroduced in January.

Through 2021, for 12 months after the UK left the European Union, companies importing and exporting goods between the UK and EU have not needed to make full customs declarations, but on the 1st January 2022 full border controls were imposed and shippers are required to submit full declarations, confirm goods origins, and pay relevant duties and taxes.

According to a recent survey by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), 25% of UK importers are not prepared for these changes, while a further 33% said they were totally unaware of the new rules, until approached for the survey. 

And it’s not just small businesses that are unprepared, figures from the Institute of Directors (IoD) suggest that 30% of firms were “not at all prepared” for the changes. 

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) asked import-exporters if they had made changes to their supply chains in line with the end of the EU transition period. Just 7.7% responded yes and 60.9% said no.

Though only a small proportion of businesses have had to change their supply chains, nearly 60% have incurred greater costs since Brexit, of which the biggest outlays have been due to transport (24.7%) and more red tape (19.2%). Few businesses said increases were caused by the cost of importing goods and services (13%) and tariffs (10.8%).

The British Chambers of Commerce, says 2021 has been “challenging” in terms of cross-border trade with the EU, but that the steep fall in volumes at the beginning of the year has recovered to an extent. However, they add, there are clear points of friction around VAT, rules of origin, customs rules and paperwork and labour mobility. In the second quarter of last year, 28% of BCC members reported expectations of reduced export revenues – a historically high number.

It is hard to disentangle the effects of Brexit from those of the pandemic and the export of goods is very different from that of services so it is helpful to look at them separately. The ONS found that among all exporting businesses, 47.9% of firms that only export goods said the end of the EU transition period was their main challenge, which compares to just 9.3% for businesses that export services.

However, the effect  of Brexit is weighing on manufacturing, according to the UK Manufacturing PMI survey, which found that “severely stretched supply chains disrupted production schedules and have driven up input prices to the greatest extent in the 30-year survey history”. Around 75% of manufacturers reported a rise and less than 1% a fall.

Brexit and logistical disruptions, that restrict opportunities to manage inbound supply chains or expand into overseas markets, are challenges that Metro help our customers overcome, with our automated customs platform, CuDoS, dedicated freight management and outsourcing teams and our multi-award winning MVT supply chain platform.

We have prepared our customers, to absorb any impact of Brexit and increased our customs brokerage team to support smaller companies, whose general unpreparedness would lead to trouble with HMRC and extra costs from non-compliance. 

Metro empower manufacturers and importers with the guidance and support they need to successfully navigate global trade, however complex or changing things may become.

Brexit is causing ‘no trade issues’, despite evidence to the contrary

Brexit is causing ‘no trade issues’, despite evidence to the contrary

Feb 23, 2022 |

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the newly appointed Brexit secretary, says current supply chain disruptions are caused by the pandemic and not Brexit, despite disagreement from trade bodies, importers and exporters. 

Mr Rees-Mogg has sparked controversy, after claiming that evidence shows Brexit-related impacts on trade drops were “few and far between”.

The Brexit secretary’s comments came a week after a report by the Public Accounts Committee found that since the end of the transition period on 31st December 2020, UK trade volumes have been suppressed by the fallout created by COVID-19, “but it is clear that EU exit has had an impact, and that new border arrangements have added costs to business.”

Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said. “One of the great promises of Brexit was freeing British businesses to give them the headroom to maximise their productivity and contribution to the economy…yet the only detectable impact so far is increased costs, paperwork and border delays.”

The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showed UK exports of goods to the EU have fallen by a record £20bn compared to the last stable period of trading with Europe in 2018, which is a 20% fall. That’s traumatic however you lay the blame and is a fact.

The ONS also found that Brexit failed to encourage trade with non-EU countries, as originally promised in the build-up to the referendum, with total annual imports 4.8% lower than in 2018 and total exports 10.5% lower than in 2018.

Mr Rees-Mogg, who was appointed Brexit minister earlier this month, insisted that Covid – not post-Brexit border arrangements – were causing “the most enormous disruptions to supply chains”.

He told the BBC: “We’ve had containers simply being stuck in the wrong place, being stuck in Chinese ports, being stuck in the port of Los Angeles. This has been a global trade issue – and we do have to recover from the problems of Covid.”

“Brexit has been extremely beneficial for the country,” he claimed, but a British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) survey of 1,000 businesses found 71% of exporters said EU trade deals were not enabling them to grow or increase sales and only 8% of businesses felt Brexit had allowed their businesses to grow.

The survey also asked companies to comment on specific advantages or disadvantages of the trade deal – just 59 firms identified advantages of post-Brexit trade agreements, while 320 registered disadvantages, including rising costs, additional bureaucracy and complexities.

Metro are at the forefront of delivering EU customs brokerage solutions, with our automated CuDoS declaration platform and a dedicated team of 40 customs experts.

Now available to new customers, our CuDoS customs brokerage platform is optimised continuously, in line with the regimes in force on both sides of the Channel.

Automating and submitting customs declarations and associated paperwork, CuDoS simplifies compliant border processing, in either direction. 

To discuss your situation and to learn how we automate customs declarations for businesses of all sizes, please contact Elliot Carlile to talk through the options.

Category: Brexit

Brexit | Customs | EU

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