Thread by @DanielLambert29

So here is the latest bit of Brexit related bullshit which is starting to become a reality for pretty much all importers of excise goods. I just want to explain this one because the is very much how cartels work.

Yesterday I was talking to one of my many hauliers regarding the thrilling subject of Excise goods under bond in transit from the EU to a bonded warehouse in the U.K. Now I’ll be honest it’s not a riveting topic until consumers realise they are being screwed again.

Basically when I bring stock into the U.K. I pay import duty of £2.23 per bottle. However as a bonded warehouse keeper I can defer this until I am ready to sell on the U.K. market or export out to say Jersey for example.

Now as you might expect this required regulations and rules. No problem with that, but with Brexit you now require two sets of documents. The U.K. import advise created on CHEIF or CDS and the U.K. EMCS ARC number. No move stock without these is illegal.

However to be able to create these documents is far from straight forward and requires multiple registrations with HMRC. My company has all of these registrations but most don’t. Here is the issue. Transportation companies are now increasingly using brokers for these documents.

Why you might ask, and the simple reason is they don’t want to get bogged down in HMRC paperwork. So these brokers have become in a very short period of time cartels charging what ever they like to get the documents done. The average is £75 per document so £150 for bonded stock.

What really concerning is that now some of these brokers are refusing to accept the importers (like me) doing there own documents or part of the documents just so they can get there fees even though the documents are exactly the same.

So for no good reason at all companies are being FORCED to give up to £150 per consignment to have their goods delivered. This is of course in addition to the rapidly rising cost of actual freight. Doesn’t sound much like control to me.

I have the ability to avoid these cost but most don’t. I am actually shocked the brokers are now using their licenses to make a bad situation even worse & are profiteering when many businesses & consumers could do with a break. After-all the actual system are free to use!

Sorry for the typos folks but it’s been a long day!

Finally to put these charges into perspective. An extra £150 (of unnecessary broker charges) on one pallet of wine adds £0.25 to the cost price or £0.48 to the retail price per bottle. This is a clear #BrexitReality cost increase that serves zero benefit to UK consumers.