Brexiteers always told us that "tariff free trade" will continue with the EU after Brexit and that every country in the world has "access" to the single market. This gave the impression that things would continue after Brexit more or less as they are at present. The word "access" is misleading for a start. What they meant was that every country "trades with" the EU, quite a different concept. To give an idea of the changes, the Irish Independent have an article (HERE) explaining what an Irish exporter to the UK after Brexit will have to do.
Inside the EU's single market and customs union, exporting something from Clondalkin to Colchester was simply a matter of hiring a transport company and making a VAT declaration. After Brexit it will be far more complicated. This is from the Irish article:
For example, if you buy plastic packaging from a UK supplier to import to Ireland to use in your production, you have a risk of 6.5pc duty (if there is no free trade agreement).
More importantly, however, you will have to lodge an export declaration with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to export the product from the UK, lodge an import declaration in Ireland to import the product into Ireland, pay an agent to lodge these declarations, pay import Vat on arrival to Ireland and face the risk of delays at the Border.
Similarly, if you export your product to the UK, you now have to repeat the process. You also need to be aware that you are probably going to have to be the importer into the UK, as your supplier [sic - I assume this should be customer]only wants your goods delivered to their door and does not want any involvement in getting them there.
The first step in identifying these costs and managing the potential impact on your business is to map out all your purchases and sales in order to identify what the duty and compliance costs will be, whether you need to renegotiate your contracts, or identify the impact of potential delays, and what new import Vat requirements there will be.
Note the reference to the customer in the UK not wanting "any involvement" in getting them there. This is also the killer problem for our exporters into the EU. They will have to set up or hire someone to be their importer into the EU, paying them for the privilege and paying VAT upfront as well as risking delays at the border.
And all this talk about maximum facilitation (Max Fac) includes obtaining trusted trader status, a process that takes about a year. The Irish independent article says 90% of Irish exporters to the UK do not have trusted trader status and need to begin the process of getting it. The same will apply to UK exporters to the EU - but where is the advice from our government? It will apply whatever trade deal we get so waiting to see what happens in a year or two will not help matters at all.
