Thread by @DanielLambert29

As we enter August the #Brexit effect is now showing, in my industry at least, the permanent issues that we have to deal with. Here is my updated thread for my business in the wine industry. 1/25

It’s fair to say that Brexit has delivered very few positive outcomes to the wine trade, needless to say there are many more negatives which we now manage to the best of our abilities. 2/25

On the positive side, the end of the grey market and overseas online retailer has effectively ceased in U.K. because taxes and shipping has made the practice unsustainable verses regular U.K. retailers. 3/25

Secondly as you may have heard the government have backed down on Vi1s not just for the EU ( which were due to start in Jan 22) but they removed the non EU version too. That is good news. 4/25

There is no doubt in my mind that this was partly due to these threads on Twitter & getting the issue out to the wider public. So big thanks to all of you for helping us get this u-turn from Government. 5/25

On the negative side logistics to the U.K. have never been so dire in the 29 years I have been trading, and the delays for stock coming over from the EU show zero signs of improving. 6/25

Just to be clear, pre-Brexit I could expect stock collected on day 1 in Austria, Italy or Spain to be arriving in my warehouse in South Wales on day 3-5. Post Brexit days have become weeks, and the implications are huge. 7/25

Adding these lead times to shipping means firstly my company is forced to hold much higher stock levels to maintain our high service levels. This of course has a cost. 8/25

Secondly actual logistics is now at a premium as many EU operbators frankly can’t be arsed with the U.K., moreover with less frequency delays are inevitable. 9/25

Then of course we have the mine field of paperwork which continues to evolve. The two big issues here seems to be the exit port number and the EX1 document. Both have given my suppliers nightmares. 10/25

What I can confirm is that logistic companies across the EU have now got to the point with wine that until the paperwork is correct it simply doesn’t move at all. Moreover I understand why they are doing this. 11/25

So whilst we are getting stock from the EU its more expensive, takes considerably more time and you have to spend an excessive amount of time to get all in the supply chain to ensure paperwork is correct. 12/25

Moreover each EU country has a different protocol for paperwork clearance. The easiest is France and most difficult is Italy. Then Spain, Austria, Portugal are somewhere in the middle. 13/25

Looking forward we still have two issues to tackle with the Government. The first is Organics and the second is back labelling. Like Vi1 these two issues have yet to be introduced. 14/25

For organics it’s once again beyond the realms of stupidity what is being proposed for wine as Vi1 were. But yet again the Government are being lax in their understanding of the issue. 15/25

Organic wines in much of the world are produced under very rigorous controls as you might expect. All of the controls especially in the EU are policed tightly. This is so the consumer has faith in the organic symbol. 16/25

So ALL organic wine has undergone all the checks required when it’s produced locally at the vineyard. Once it’s bottled nothing further can happen to it. This is very simple to understand (you would think). 17/25

Under the Brexit plan all importers of organic wines have to register with one of the organic bodies in the U.K. to gain certification as an organic importer. To become certified you have to meet their requirements. 18/25

So as ever wanting to be ahead of the crowd we applied some 4 months ago. The cost should have been £1500 PA but we offered a reduction as we don’t actually make/ grow anything. 19/25

Part of the inspection is to ensure that organic wines don’t come into contact with non organic wines. That’s right folks I have to make sure the bottles of wine don’t interact with each other. You just can’t make this stuff up. 20/25

Secondly its required (TBC) that organic wines as well additional paperwork (cost) we’ll need to ship separately from non organic wines. Again to avoid contamination apparently. 21/25

But when it comes to the retailer who will actually sell the product to the consumers there is no requirement for any controls. Which I have to say does make the rest of the system a complete waste of time. So that is due Jan 2022. 22/25

Then in September 2022 all imports of wine must have the importer details on the back label for traceability. Personally I don’t have problem with this, but it does add 7p approx to the cost of the product to have it applied. 23/25

So to conclude the #teething problems the government talked about back in January have become permanent fixtures, costs continue to increase, and still the Brexit deniers want to pretend this what they voted for. 24/25

Just imagine what’s happens when HMRC start checking goods coming in the U.K from the EU ! 25/25.

I just wanted to add this to my thread so that you can all see for yourself the slow decline even post Brexit. Below is tracking info from Feb & now. Same products and producer with the same logistics company. It’s getting worse not better. The three images below prove it.