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Trade with the EU ‘permanently damaged’ by new Brexit checks

Igor • 18 January 2022

Air cargo shippers and air transport workers require more transparency for the sake of security. Of course, this will also enhance efficiency.

Cold Chain Federation declared that the new customs checks will increase import prices and will slow down shipping processes. 

Trade with the EU may be "permanently damaged" from 1 January, especially for small businesses, according to the refrigerated supply chain trade body. With the new customs checks imposed, imports from Europe are "more expensive, less flexible and much slower".

The Cold Chain Federation declared that speciality food imports could face the same 70% decline that also affected exports of food by small businesses last year after Britain quit the EU single market and customs union. 

 "The big casualty of these trade barriers is the business that needs to import small and frequent quantities across borders - a pallet load of speciality cheeses or boxes of onion powder. This is the sort of trade that is going to suffer," said Shane Brennan, the federation's chief executive.

Business groups have asked the government to reconsider the negotiations with the EU to avoid a collapse in trade with the 27-member bloc. But while ministers have agreed to extend the deadline for veterinary checks on food crossing the border, there has been little progress on cutting red tape.

The chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, Mike Cherry, stated that a survey in the autumn showed only a quarter of firms were prepared for the introduction of full import checks.

"We don't have any indication that the level of preparedness has improved, especially as the festive trading season has been so disrupted yet again," he said, adding that one in five small firms that do business internationally had given up selling to clients in the EU since the transition period on exports ended. 

Rising food prices led to the increase in inflation over the past six months, and economists warn that higher import charges will push up prices further, forcing the Bank of England to increase interest rates at a faster pace than anticipated.

The consumer prices index reached 5.2% in November and is expected to rise above 6% in the spring as higher food import costs and an increase in gas prices push up the cost of living.

Simon Spurrell, a co-founder of the Cheshire Cheese Company, said the hard Brexit pushed through by Boris Johnson was the "biggest disaster that any government has ever negotiated in the history of trade negotiations". Cheese makers are among the sub-sectors of the food and drink industry to be hardest hit by new trade barriers.

UK food and drink exports to the EU went down by 24% in the first nine months of 2021, according to figures from the Food and Drink Federation, which said the slump helped knock the sector's exports by £2.7bn between January and September compared with pre-pandemic levels.

Brennan said exports that occupy only a fraction of a container had suffered the most from extra customs checks on exports, and that was likely to be repeated when checks also apply to imports.

He said importers would need to satisfy safety rules, provide customer declarations and have the necessary paperwork to ensure goods move through ports. "And all these must be synchronised to prevent things being even slower," he said.Cherry said: "Unless the government steps in with more support, the situation is set to worsen."

The Institute of Directors said its economic confidence index had tumbled from -6 in November to -17 this month, a sign of nervousness among business owners about the UK's economic prospects.

It said three-quarters of company directors expected costs to rise in the next 12 months, and most said they would raise prices to either fully or partially offset the rise in costs.

The Trades Union Congress said new checks on goods coming into the UK would damage the UK's position as an important trading nation and the drive to create high-paying employment.

The TUC general secretary, Frances O'Grady, said: "With goods coming into the UK facing new paperwork, we could see further supply chain chaos, potentially hitting jobs in affected sectors. Government must invest in the infrastructure and jobs we need now to prevent further disruption."


Source: The Guardian

The free-trade deal with Australia is almost approved by the UK

by Igor • 19 March 2023
The United Kingdom’s High Commissioner to Australia declared that the free-trade agreement between the two countries is set to be ratified by the end of this month. The trade deal, signed in 2021, has been criticized by some UK officials for being "one-sided", including by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during the campaign trail, last year. However, he declared he would not renege on the deal because this would mean returning to an international treaty. Vicki Treadell, the British High Commissioner, declared on Tuesday the deal should return to the House of Commons from the House of Lords by March 12th or 13th where it would need another two or three weeks to pass. She added that further debates might delay the process. "The moment that is done, because you beat us to it at the end of your last sitting week of the last calendar year, if both countries having completed our parliamentary processes, it should come into effect pretty soon afterward." The trade deal will remove tariffs on bilateral trade, which hit A$29 billion (£16 billion)in 2019-2020. The deal was projected in 2021 to boost trade by over £10 billion "in the long run", opening up sectors like agriculture and allowing freer movement for service-sector professionals. The deal comes into force 30 days after both parties notify each other of parliamentary ratification or on another mutually agreed date.

Import/export pre-notification cost

by Igor • 28 February 2022
Dear valued customer, After the United Kingdom left the European Union in 2021, the customs regulation has changed. All cargo to and from UK now has to be pre-notified to the Norwegian Customs Authority. Sea-Cargo is obliged to report all import and export to the authorities, and we have for the last year been performing this without any extra cost for our customers. We do however see that the administration needed for this reporting is comprehensive, and we will going forward offer this as an extra service to our customers. This charge will apply for all customers unless you can issue the notification yourself via NCTS. If you do arrange the pre-notification yourself, please contact us for an agreement. From 1st March 2022 the new charges will be: NOK 480,- per notification, including three HS codes Excess HS codes: NOK 45,- (per code) The fee will be charged to the party paying the freight We hope for your understanding, and you are welcome to contact us with any questions

Jacob Rees-Mogg, new Brexit minister, adamant to cut red tape

by Igor • 14 February 2022
The new Brexit minister is asking the companies struggling with red tape to write to him, while on a visit to the UK's biggest container port. Jacob Rees -Mogg said Brexit was "already a success" and that he would be working to "cut through the thicket" of red tape. When visiting the Port of Felixstowe, Mr. Rees-Mogg was given the new role in the PM's recent cabinet re-shuffle.But Suffolk's chamber of commerce said the paperwork was affecting the trade. Koyas Miah of the Suffolk Chamber of Commerce said many members had seen a rise in the costs of administration, and rules being interpreted differently by different EU countries was not helping. "The paperwork, understanding what they (firms) need to do, how they need to do it is becoming a challenge," said Mr. Miah. "What businesses are now facing is one EU country saying they want XYZ for paperwork, but the other (EU country) wants something completely different," said Mr. Miah. He said the chamber has heard from businesses that have temporarily stopped trading with EU countries due to the problems with compliance. He has called for the Brexit minister to bring more clarity "in terms of what needs to be done". Mr. Rees-Mogg promised he would be tackling the issues of compliance. "We don't want to replace a European bureaucracy with a home-grown bureaucracy," he said. "My role is to try and cut through this thicket. My role as the Brexit opportunities minister is to find out where regulations exist that we don't need, and to try and get rid of them." UK exports to the EU fell by 14% between 2019 and 2020, while imports fell by 19%, according to the House of Commons library data. Last week, a cross-party committee of MPs - the Public Accounts Committee - said that new arrangements for the UK-EU border had added costs to businesses exporting to Europe. Mr. Rees-Mogg cited the pandemic and general disruption to global trade, such as containers stuck in world ports, as some of the reasons behind the drop in trade, rather than leaving the EU. "I think Brexit has been extremely beneficial for the country, I think the evidence that Brexit has caused trade drops is few and far between," he said. Source: BBC News
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