Business, Forwarding, Freight News, Logistics

We need the Customs tariff now, say shippers

[ March 5, 2019   //   Chris ]

The Freight Transport Association called on the Government to clarify its plans for the amount of customs duty that will be payable on imported goods in the event of a No Deal Brexit.
It says it has sent mixed signals, only saying that it will announce the UK Customs tariff “shortly”.
But with less than four weeks to go until Brexit, members of FTA’s Shippers’ Council have expressed intense frustration that they still do not know what will happen and called on the Government to publish it without delay.
FTA deputy chief executive James Hookham says that goods are on their way to the UK now by sea that will arrive in early April, at which point they may be liable for new UK Customs duties, if there is no deal. Businesses may not be able to pass these new costs on to customers.
He added: “It is unfair and unreasonable for the government to claim it is business’s responsibility to prepare for a No Deal Brexit when ministers are unable to provide essential information for importers and exporters with which to calculate the costs and consequences for their goods. Businesses need the UK Customs Tariff to be declared and published without delay.”
He said it was also imperative that traders are given more detailed information about trade deals with the rest of the world which they had been promised would be rolled over after Brexit: nothing has been confirmed to date beyond a general information note and statement of intent published in February.
Hookham concluded, “If traders delayed making a Customs declaration for this long they would be in trouble with HMRC. Government’s own Customs declaration is now overdue and business patience is running out.”

Tags: British Shippers Council; Brexit, FTA