Exclusive: the U.K. is starting research on its new post-Brexit customs IT system, 4 months before it's due to go live bloomberg.com/news/articles/… 1/
In an HMRC memo seen by Bloomberg, hauliers have been invited to take part in remote testing as part of `user research' for the `Goods Vehicle Movement Service' - which will police cross-Irish Sea trade from January and all UK-EU goods flow from July 2/ bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
HMRC wants to conduct the research `ASAP' according to the memo, and is aiming to do 5-6 rounds of testing via video call in the coming months 3/
Trade and Borders consultancy founder @AnnaJerzewska says it would've been better to invite hauliers in earlier in the design process - and in any event, she expects the GVMS won't be ready by January 1st, so alternatives will be needed 4/
How will the GVMS work? Here's an explanation 5/
The tight timeframes are a cause for concern in the logistics industry. One freight forwarder, speaking under anonymity, said they're worried the system won't be ready in time 6/
HMRC said it's important to work with the freight industry on the design - here's their statement 7/ 
So less than 90 working days before it's due to launch, and more than 4 years on from the Brexit referendum, HMRC is at the research and design phase of a key post-Brexit customs IT system.
Let's see how this goes... ends/ bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Let's see how this goes... ends/ bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
