Shippers post-Brexit charge is huge

Government predictions that UK shippers could face a £15bn bill for post no-deal Brexit customs entries has been substantially underestimated, but Metro are committed to simplify the burden and cost.

An impact assessment carried out by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HRMC), published this week, estimates that UK importers and exporters will make 215 million customs declarations a year if the country leaves the EU without a deal and full customs regimes are implemented between them.

On top of that, HMRC has conducted a survey of the average charges freight forwarders levy for customs entry declarations, and found that shippers which outsource customs entries were charged, on average, £56 per import and £46 per export declaration.Metro charge significantly less than those figures AND has regimes in place that may reduce the number of entries that shippers actually have to submit.

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Based on these assumptions HMRC concludes that UK businesses and their EU counterparts face increased customs administrative costs of around £7.5bn each a year.

However, some industry experts have warned that the figure could be substantially higher, claiming early pricing indications are that entries may be charged more than HMRC calculated and there are other costs left out of the estimates.

For UK exporters, the sting in the tail will depend on the destination of their shipments. If they require trucks to transit one or more EU states, they will require a transit accompanying document (TAD), which is filed in the New Computerised Transit System used throughout Europe.

HMRC has considered the entry cost, but not all other associated charges, such as the TAD element or administration required in documentation, which will add costs.