EU Exit Update

With the recent updates and the new government campaign on the EU Exit, we at DACHSER wanted to inform you of some key points that have arisen that you may find relevant for your organisation.

While trade talks continue to progress slowly, the month of June presented the last opportunity for the UK Government to extend the transition period currently due to end on 31 December 2020.

The date passed with no request for an extension, and now the focus is on a phased introduction to customs controls in the UK as of 1 January 2021. The transition phase will allow traders to recover from the impact of COVID-19 and to prepare for the new requirements. The UK will be subject to full customs control at its borders by 1 July 2021.

Earlier this year, the UK Government took steps to remove certain customs easements, including Transitional Simplified Procedures (TSP), and Post VAT Accounting (PVA). However, they have reconsidered and understood there is a need for some customs easements to be in place.

As a result, we have seen the reintroduction of postponed VAT accounting and a new form of the import process to enable the importer of record to account for their shipments by creating an entry into their records. Further information on this process can be found on the GOV.UK website.

On 12 July 2020, the Government announced funding of £705 million to build border facilities, invest in new technology and to create 500 new jobs within the border force to give further development of the infrastructure in preparation to the EU exit. Within this amount, there is £50 million available to support with training and IT equipment to complete customs declarations which you may be able to benefit from.

There will be an EU Summit Meeting for final discussions between the UK and EU on 17-18 October 2020. Finally, on 19 October 2020, we should see the summary and conclusion of a deal or no-deal scenario. 

We should not lose sight that regardless of the outcome of these discussions, customs administration will be necessary on all goods entering and exiting the UK as of January 2021, albeit in a phased approach.

The UK Government have also announced ‘The UK’s new start: Let’s get going’ campaign which is designed to give everybody easy and quick access to information and actions that people and businesses need to take to prepare for the end of the transition period.

Download the full communication below that includes further useful links and information.