There has been a great deal of publicity in recent days about how to prepare for a no-deal Brexit, but ParcelHero says the procedures for shipping items to the EU from November 1st onwards will be very different if a deal is agreed.
ParcelHero’s Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks MILT, says: ‘The Government’s £100m advertising campaign has concentrated on what exporters, couriers and everyone wishing to send items to the EU must do in the event of a no-deal Brexit on October 31st. However, there are currently signs that the negotiations may actually be successful; if that is the case, companies and individuals should be aware much of the no-deal advice they have been reading will not apply.’
Explains David: ‘If there is a successful agreement in place by October 31st, (still a long shot, but currently looking a little more likely), all the most recent advice is largely irrelevant. In the short term, at least, instead of launching into a new regime of Customs’ invoices and tariff codes, there will be no immediate changes and businesses and individuals will carry on sending items just as they do today. Unless the final terms of the Brexit deal alter the plan, which is unlikely, a transition period will follow a Brexit agreement, and that will be likely to continue until December 2020.
‘During this period the procedures for exporting and importing goods and parcels stays broadly the same as now. That’s because only the bare bones of the terms of the UK’s exit from the EU have been agreed upon. The exact conditions and regulations under which we will continue to trade with the EU will only be thrashed out once agreement on the basic decision to leave has been approved.’
Says David: ‘Should a deal be agreed by October 31st we won’t actually know the exact shape of our relationship with the EU for at least a year. Indeed, the Brexit secretary, Stephen Barclay, has even hinted the transition period – which the Government prefers to call the ‘implementation period’ as it sounds like lots is getting done – could continue to the end of 2022. So, to be clear, there will be no new Customs’ checks, paperwork or tariffs on November 1st.’
In conclusion, David says: ‘ParcelHero is opposed to the UK leaving the Customs Union and the Single Market. New tariffs and red tape will increase the cost of deliveries, the final cost of UK goods to EU consumers and the price of many EU-sourced shipments entering the UK. Failing the scrapping of Brexit, the second-best result for everyone trading with the EU, or simply sending parcels there, is a negotiated agreement. We are keeping everything crossed that a no-deal Brexit can be avoided, and that our customers – and indeed everyone trading with the EU - won’t be facing new red tape and expense on November 1st.’
More information on how unfolding Brexit plans – whatever the outcome - are putting increasing pressure on UK businesses can be found here.