Brexit breathing space serves supply chain players

Businesses have been advised to use the UK government’s deadline extension for Brexit-related safety and security declarations to perfect their systems.

The extension applies to the obligation under Brexit to lodge an electronic advance security declaration for all goods moving from the European union   (EU) to Great Britain (GB), regardless of the mode of transport, following the 1 January 2021 establishment of a physical border between both.

Carriers have the legal responsibility to provide the customs authority in the Member State of first entry into the EU with safety and security information prior to the arrival of the goods. This is done by way of the Entry Summary (ENS) declaration filed to the EU Import Control System (ICS).

For ro-ro movements, a carrier is defined as being the ferry operator for unaccompanied goods or the haulier for accompanied goods. The carrier may agree to pass on the filing of the ENS to another trader in the supply chain, such as a shipping agent, forwarder, exporters or broker, for example. However, the carrier retains legal responsibility for the safety and security declaration.

“Leading up to 1 January 2021, there was considerable confusion amongst trade actors regarding who would take responsibility for filing safety and security declarations, particularly in the context of ro-ro movements,” said Paul Grobler, head of International Development at customs management software specialist CONEX https://www.conex.net/.

“Some large hauliers have assumed their responsibility. However, since most are not accustomed to dealing with customs-related declarations, they looked to other trade actors for support. This led to further confusion, with trade attempting to determine who in the supply chain would be best placed to draft and file safety and security declarations,” Grobler said.

Northern Ireland (NI) remains aligned with EU regulations under the NI Protocol and, as such, ENS declarations are required to be filed to the NI ICS. However, the requirement to file safety and security declarations from goods from the EU arriving in GB had been waived up to 1 July 2021. To allow for the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, that waiver has been extended to 31 December 2021.

“The announcement of the waiver being extended for GB safety and security declarations has given economic operators a further opportunity to analyse their physical and data flows and to decide who in the supply chain would be best placed to complete and file the GB safety and security declaration when the 1 January 2022 rolls around,” Grobler said.

The UK’s Office for National Statistics recently published official figures highlighting the extent that UK-EU trade collapsed in January, including a more than 40% drop in UK exports to the EU, as traders and their freight and logistics providers adjusted to new post-Brexit trading arrangements and challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Various freight industry sources have highlighted that although UK-EU road freight vehicle numbers may have recovered towards their pre-Brexit levels, the numbers of trucks travelling empty from the UK to the EU had risen sharply. For example, at the start March 2021, the Road Haulage Association estimated that trucks were going back to the continent about 40% empty, compared to around 20% empty pre-Brexit.

Latest developments in changes to the post-Brexit roadmap were explained in a Lloyd’s Loading List/Institute of Export and International Trade webinar (available here https://pages.maritimeintelligence.informa.com/brexit-next-steps) in which CONEX’s Paul Grobler expounded on solutions for impacted businesses.