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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. 

DACHSER's transport network is prepared for dynamic changes

DACHSER says thank you - over the past few weeks, our customers have informed us in good time about their current transport requirements and included us in their planning. This has enabled us to quickly adjust our capacities to the actual demand. Due to the sharp decline in transport volumes in recent weeks, we have temporarily reduced transport capacities and installed special schedules.

The many measures taken to reduce new infections with the coronavirus have had a positive effect in many European countries in recent days. Initial easing measures, for example, a partial reopening of retail outlets, are making everyday life easier for people. Since many industrial companies are also resuming production - albeit mostly at lower output levels - we expect transport volumes to remain volatile, but to increase again in principle.

With the active support of our customers, we are very well prepared for the coming period and will also be able to handle rising transport volumes again with the well-known DACHSER quality. It will continue to be very valuable for us in the future, too, that our customers continue to provide us with all the planning information that will enable us to adjust transport capacities and planning in line with demand.

We would like to thank you for your active cooperation during this very challenging period and look forward to continuing our successful collaboration, in which you can continue to rely on DACHSER.