Brexit checks start today amid confusion about how some ports outside the two main ones at Dover and Folkestone are supposed to recover the costs of building inspection facilities and carrying out the checks. The two Channel ports have the Common User Charge but others are still in the dark, not only about charges but how they're supposed to know which cargoes need checking! According to Politico yesterday, Richard Ballantyne, chief executive of the British Ports Association, and Rhett Hatcher, chief executive of the UK Chamber of Shipping, warned it’s not possible to know “how many eligible goods are being transported through ports as well as who to invoice a blanket charge” without the information on the government’s Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed IT system.
And apparently, they have no access to this IT system! It is truly farcical.
DEFRA are said to be, "working on sharing some of that data with ports" but conceded the technical fix for doing this might not be available "for months." There is no data-sharing agreement between the port operators and Defra — and the government may end up charging the ports for access to the data!
One exasperated senior port executive who wanted to remain anonymous, told Politico: “It’s enormously frustrating that after literally years — a period where the physical facilities at ports have been ready and at a time when ports are feeling the wrath of customers for charges that are not of the ports doing — we’re still waiting for government to deliver at one minute to midnight.”
On post-Brexit checks starting this very day, port operators around the country literally have no idea what consignments need checking, who to charge or how much. Now, go back and read that sentence again and think about how long we've been at it. It's shameful.
Poltico say "Without an effective means of charging importers, ports have the choice of either not charging importers at all — or finding some temporary fix of their own.
"One workaround currently being explored would involve billing intermediaries such as shipping companies who would in turn bill customers — a move that inevitably piles on an extra layer of bureaucracy."
The CEO of the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC), Nigel Jenney, says the government has ignored advice on how to streamline border processes, and warned: "They’ve created a strategy that is both incompetent and hugely expensive. This will drive up costs for our sector, which will ultimately be passed on to consumers already struggling with the rising cost of living.”
“We have become the laughing-stock of Europe,” he argued.
Even government ministers don't know what's going on. Yesterday in parliament, Mark Spencer a former chief whip and now a junior minister at DEFRA, was answering questions and told MPs that the CUC had been capped at £145 (5 x £29) per lorry load. This is what Peter Foster at tbe FT said about it:
OMG The @DefraGovUK minister @Mark_Spencer just said that “we’ve limited the amount of charges that can apply to five per lorry load”...it's NOT. It's five (mad £145) per CHED (ie product declaration). There can be *multiple* on a lorry. Here's EG from @ColdChainFed /1 pic.twitter.com/Wi913nrLsh
— Peter Foster (@pmdfoster) April 29, 2024
The £145 maximum applies only if there is one Common Health Entry Document (CHED) for the whole consignment and excludes all the other costs too.
The Cold Chain Federation has worked out one groupage example showing ten consignments on one vehicle from the EU going to different destinations in the UK will add up to £6,954 in border charges alone!
Mr Jenney at the FPC described the CUC being imposed on cross Channel Traffic through Dover and Folkestone from today as “exorbitant” and warned they will add “millions of pounds in annual costs to the supply chain.” And he is right.
The other day the FT reported that one UK importer, HunPro, which brings in Hungarian foods and employs 20 people supplying more than 120 shops in Britain said that his customs agent had estimated the border inspection fees would cost him £8,880 a month.
He added that the business had already absorbed higher food and haulage costs, so he had to respond to the new regime by cutting the number of product lines on offer by as much as 30% and raising prices by up to 15%.
