"UK trade can expect a “painful” exit from the European Union as ports requiring physical changes are left hanging on responses for government tenders to build new infrastructure.
This means we will have six months to build it in time for the 1 July [end of easing-in period] deadline, but the last substantial infrastructure project took 11 months,” he said.
(UK has 6 months "border facilitation" / smugglers' charter on customs declarations & SPS checks)
“Even more challenging (i.e. impossible) is the situation in Northern Ireland, where we need to have this new infrastructure in place by 1 January.”
Business leaders are levelling the blame for the delays at an absence of information from Whitehall, as the CEO of Manufacturing Northern Ireland, Stephen Kelly, put it bluntly: “Northern Ireland’s business community will not be ready
because they have not been provided [with] the necessary detail and information on how things will work.
“A poll we conducted suggested only *9%* of the region’s businesses felt prepared. In the manufacturing sector, we found that only *5%* of businesses believed they were ready"
Chief executive of the British Ports Association Richard Ballantyne described the process of getting information on how customs and border processes will work – and thus what infrastructure will be required – as “agonising”.
there remained issues surrounding how animal and plant health checks will be conducted, and that without this information it could be “completely impossible” for certain ports to handle these goods.
And their regimes, in a no-deal situation, mirror third-country checks, effectively making it impossible for certain ports to accommodate these goods, putting traders at real disadvantage.
“A lot of our fresh goods, meats and salads come in from Rotterdam…
it is difficult to fully prepare infrastructure for this scenario.”
One source told The Loadstar they expected “things to be painful”,
while director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium Aodhan Connolly said people in were facing a “standard of living issue”, adding: “It will be those that are least able to afford it that will be hurt most
From 1 January 2021, eBay will be legally required to begin collecting and remitting VAT for UK imports. From that date, eBay will have to charge buyers the applicable VAT amount directly and remit this sum to the relevant authorities.
Sellers trading with UK buyers and listing on the UK or any EU site will need to provide both gross prices as well as the applicable VAT rate used to calculate the gross price on all listings. If sellers do not specify gross prices and VAT rates, eBay will have to assume that
the price provided is the net price, and will add VAT on top of the price displayed to buyers.
We strongly urge sellers listing on eBay.co.uk or other European eBay sites to specify the applicable VAT rates on existing listings as soon as possible.
Okay time for a beach side beer ...just a quick note
UK has been part of a Single (expanding) internal borders Market for nearly *30* years.
& part of a Customs (expanding) Union for nearly *50* years.
To reverse that lack of capacity to reflect that lack of operational/customs/
infrastructure/space/"50,000" experienced staff dissipated away/IT support, demand was *always* going to be mammoth task at mammoth cost. eg Channel Tunnel was actually conceived of & built with the Single Market (inside a Customs Union) in mind...so it too didn't factor in space
needed for life outside it. France has been lucky: Calais port & Coquelles do have needed space for UK's self harming choice
EU nations (& Gib) haven't been hampered by a narrative of "opportunities"/trying to hide visible costs. & have duly prepped with loud necessary *warnings*
"Freight forwarders are beginning to withdraw operations from Northern Ireland amid increasing concern about the capability of UK customs systems to handle dual-tariff procedures post-Brexit.
Agency Sector Management (ASM) chairman Peter MacSwiney told The Loadstar two of his largest customers had informed him they'd be relocating to the Republic of Ireland after the UK leaves the European Union on 1 January.“They said they would not be dealing with Northern Ireland
because of the complexity of moving goods,” said Mr MacSwiney.
“I think it’s indicative of how business will respond to the chaos surrounding the transition, and we will likely see more move out before this is over, because it is an area lacking customs experience and skillsets –
THIS should be daily news ...RHA have used terms "impossible" "disaster area" (a deal/any FTA) or "disaster area with rocket boosters" (no deal) for a very long time now...
BUT always the "news" moves on next day.
Not enough have taken enough notice from those of us that "*know*
Out of the Customs Union & out of the Single Market (& safety/security zone)...without the ports/infrastructure/customs experience capacity/supply to meet new demands (GB/NI a special doozy)
*is* going to decimate/destroy many UK businesses esp SMEs..& supply chains @IanKingSky
the level of insightful questoning is appalling...
of course when freight needs to move across a customs AND a regulatory/SPS border (& a safety/security border) it is going to fucking cost more...
Costs WILL *rise* to the consumer and choice/volumes WILL *fall* ....
This is the sort of BS one expects from @ShankerASingham and his idiot cohorts, which I examined back in 2018 when the idea of the “Smart Border 2.0” was being touted.
It was precisely then that a certain “customs expert”, Dr Lars Karlsson @CapacityNow was suggesting that:
“Checks under sanitary rules, a key regulatory area for agricultural trade, could be covered under the trusted trader arrangements”.
As I remarked at the time, though, the man clearly had no knowledge of non-customs systems.
The AEO “trusted trader” certification to which he referred was (& is) a customs system and has no bearing on sanitary or phytosanitary issues.
Crucially, the EU does not operate a preferential access system to BIPs (now BCPs) and under WTO rules, they are required to give access
Container shipments from Asia to the UK continue to be subject to “unprecedented” delays and significant additional costs.“It’s as bad as you hear, possibly worse,” Ryan Clark director and co-owner of UK-based Westbound Logistics, told The Loadstar today.
“Space is still an issue, as are ever-increasing rates,” said Mr Clark,“
We are constantly finding ourselves apologising to customers. If it’s not rollings, space problems or rate increases, it’s a berthing delay or haulage issue,” he said.