Take it from someone who spends part of the time working on export promotion strategies in various countries around the world that “getting more of them to export” is not as easy as it sounds.
Having an FTA in place is step one. And it doesn’t mean very much without supporting policies. I wonder if (I hope) the Gov is well aware of this.
/2
In order to achieve any returns on this investment (negotiating and FTA) further, far less “sexy”, policies are required: i.e. around awareness, guidance, access to financing etc.
/3
There are of course other issues to consider too. Such as demand and whether or not the product simply of any interest to local consumers.
/4
Sometimes the reason a company isn’t increasing its market share or exporting to a foreign country has very little to do with the 2% or even 8% tariff.
Getting companies to export can be difficult even for countries with an extensive network of trade deals.
5/5
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
At the heart of this entire mess is one thing and one thing only:
How do you communicate the scale of the new barriers to trade that are going to be introduced when for political reasons you are obliged to spin it as liberalisation?
It's not that the UK Gov didn't realise what was coming.
HMRC, DEFRA and other departments know these 3rd country rules inside out. They've got experts of their own in customs, SPS and everything else.
/2
These Departments were well aware of requirements such as RoOs or health certificates.
But for some reason, whether it was lack of communication, deliberate decision or something else, that knowledge did not translate into a clear message from the UK Gov.
/3
Keep getting asked what are the chances HMRC will find out if you use an incorrect commodity code or declare preferential origin when you can't substantiate it.
And it usually makes me think of this TikTok
/1
More importantly, though, I'm not entirely sure companies understand how important a "good compliance record" is in the long run.
/2
If you look at the UK Trader Scheme, or other simplification etc a good compliance record is always a requirement.
/3
1⃣ Companies will experience the consequences of the new formalities differently: for some things are working well(ish), others are no longer able to trade and their entire business model has collapsed.
/2
It's a spectrum - where you are on that spectrum depends on your supply chain, industry etc.
/3
The option to defer customs declarations for 6 months has been extended until 2022.
IMPORTANT - for goods imported until now declarations will still be due in July. But e.g. declarations for goods imported in July can be submitted in Jan 2022
Was tempted to ignore this. First of all not sure how I feel about Gov posting "ad features". I come from a country where we had a lot of that under the previous regime (and the current one) and not sure I would recommend it.
I love how one of the examples talks about how easy it was to import into the UK (all you need is an EORI and changes to invoices) when UK controls have not yet been introduced. Yes, of course, there were not delays!
Let's touch base in July
/2
Also, the article, like the Gov Brexit campaign, fails to mention rules of origin. And if these companies are not affected by rules of origin (solely import EU made goods for the UK market - excluding NI) these are exceptions.