The government, who would like your feedback on UK border controls, have announced an unexpected border easement, but another one that nearly a quarter of a million traders would welcome is unlikely to happen.

Customs Declaration Service
The customs handling of import and export freight system (CHIEF) has been in use by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for nearly 30 years and is being replaced from the 30th September 2022.

Metro clients will be migrated onto the CDS platform and will maintain the same support currently provided by our export, import and off service brokerage teams, but they must be registered to use CDS. 

With just three months to go HMRC recently contacted 220,000 businesses, to urge them to move over to CDS, because it takes time to move across, depending on the size and nature of their business and they must start the process now to ensure they are fully set up ahead of the 30th September deadline.

Effective from last Tuesday all new registrations must be made on the Customs Declaration Service, because CHIEF is closing for import declarations on the 30th September and HMRC needs time to ensure that the shutdown proceeds in an orderly manner.

It consequently appears extremely unlikely that the September switch-off date for CHIEF, for UK imports, will be postponed and the date is now set in stone.

Brokerage manager, Andy Fitchett, “We’re ahead of the curve, hiring 35 brokers to ready us for the CDS launch, with procedures, processes and training in place. We’re going through the process of getting our clients onboard now, and our aim is to have this done by August, so we can spend September organising any stragglers.

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Safety and security easements
On the 1st July HMRC introduced four new border easements, focused around the submission of safety and security (S&S) information and designed to simplify the movement of vehicles taking goods into and out of the UK.

The announced changes will benefit hauliers, because they will not be burdened with the administration of creating documentation for the port of departure and will benefit the ports of departure in the UK because the haulier can move through the port unheeded.

The quicker circulation of vehicles does means that equipment should be available to shippers faster.

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Border users survey
The government’s 2025 UK Border Strategy is intended to make the UK border the most effective in the world, embracing innovation and simplified processes and your experiences will help them understand how the border can be improved.

With improved security and biosecurity, the ambition is to make border documentation digital, to reduce complexity for traders and the border industry.

The new Target Operating Model will set out the transformative programme that will digitise the border; harnessing new technologies and data to reduce friction and costs for businesses and consumers.

The government’s border users survey aims to understand how the experience of the border can be improved through digitisation of government or trade documentation and processes.

ACCESS THE SURVEY HERE

RESPONSES MUST BE SUBMITTED BY THE 11TH JULY 2022

Our customs brokerage team have been processing live entries through CDS and our CuDoS automated customs platform has been updated for and integrated with CDS for nationwide declarations, at any point of entry or exit.

Metro are at the forefront of UK/EU customs brokerage solutions, with our automated CuDoS declaration platform and a dedicated team of customs experts, reacting swiftly to any changes in the UK’s trading relationship with the EU.

To learn how we can simplify and automate customs declarations for your businesses, please contact Elliot Carlile to talk through the options.

After the PM’s trip to Northern Ireland this week failed to trigger any progress in the dead-locked political situation, the government has announced plans to table legislation that will scrap parts of the Northern Ireland protocol, in spite of fears that it could initiate a trade war with the EU.

The political parties in Stormont all criticised the prime minister after a series of meetings on Monday and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has withheld its support until the government takes "decisive action" on post-Brexit trade arrangements.

Mr Johnson said a "legislative solution" was needed and the Foreign Secretary has now confirmed that the government would, in the coming weeks, introduce legislation to strip away parts of the protocol to enable easier trade, though it would have to go through parliament, which could take months.

Brexit opportunities minister, Jacob Rees-Mogg claimed last week that the EU “wants to make the UK feel bad about having left the European Union”, but doubted the EU would retaliate with something as severe as a trade war, saying it would be a “pretty silly” thing to do.

While the former Brexit minister David Frost has said the UK may face EU retaliation, although it would be disproportionate to the trade involved and logic may yet prevail, but if it does happen, “we should not fear it.”

However, Britain’s former ambassador to the EU, Sir Ivan Rogers, has warned there’s a severe risk that we are heading into a trade war and that the threatened legislation wouldn’t even have to come into force for the EU to think that it was entitled to retaliate.

While many hope that the EU would launch lengthy legal proceedings that could result in the UK being fined, the real fear is they may terminate the trade deal with the UK and impose tariffs on all British exports to the bloc.

The imposition of tariffs could be triggered quite quickly and the EU could also increase border checks, to disrupt Channel trade and even if the UK does not retaliate, there could be shortages and price rises, which would be deeply unpopular, at a time of rampant inflation, a cost of living crisis and looming recession.

The EU has already ejected the UK from its flagship Horizon research programme because it no longer trusts the government and could take similar steps in other areas.

Let’s hope the politicians can agree a sensible solution, quickly, encompassing all stakeholders and rather than confuse future trade within Europe, simplify it. We are closely monitoring the situation and the impact and ‘fallout’ of any negative outcome over coming weeks and months, and possibly beyond.

Metro are at the forefront of UK/EU customs brokerage solutions, with our automated CuDoS declaration platform and a dedicated team of 40 customs experts, which means we are well positioned to react swiftly to any changes in the UK’s trading relationship with the EU.

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

To learn how we can simplify and automate customs declarations for your businesses, please contact Elliot Carlile to talk through the options.