You are the owner of a small manufacturing business in northern England, making auto-parts which you export to factories in the EU. Your sales form part of the £300 billion of exports that go to the bloc from Britain each year.
Yet the U.K. has now left the EU and your customers are worried. Will you still be able to deliver? Your biggest buyer—a German car-maker—operates a just-in-time production line, meaning that any delay to a part arriving will shut down their factory.
You tell them not to worry. You’re confident that you can get the parts delivered, even if you’re not sure how the trade negotiations will shake out. Now it’s time to keep your promise...
It’s late October and you’ve just heard some very good news. The U.K. has signed a free-trade agreement with the EU!
It was looking pretty gloomy and fractious, but the negotiators pulled it out the bag. Boris Johnson is doing his victory lap and lauding a great new partnership between Britain and Europe.
It’s now less than three months until the Brexit transition period ends. You hear a government radio advert advising you to check new trading procedures with the EU.
It’s a good thing you checked. The government website says you need something called an EORI number to export to the EU after Brexit, and you need to file customs declarations.
You call your local customs broker, who says she’s been inundated with queries due to a shortage of agents in the market, but she can offer you a quote of £50 per declaration.
That sounds pretty steep. Your local Chamber of Commerce says declarations ordinarily cost about £35. Every shipment you now make will need one of these declarations, and you don’t want to get ripped off.
It’s January 2021: Britain has now left the EU’s single market and customs union! Commerce with the bloc is now governed by the free-trade deal Johnson signed in October.
Monday morning rolls around and you’re ready to send your latest shipment of auto-parts to Germany. Your team load up the goods in your warehouse and your hauler is on his way.
You received another anxious e-mail from your German customer over the weekend, checking all will run smoothly today.
You realise that you actually need to file a customs declaration with your shipment, which you didn’t need before. The hauler is arriving soon, so you quickly fill in the paperwork yourself, trying to find the right commodity code for your product and inputting data like its weight and value.
You also panic when you see that you need an EORI number to export to the EU. But then you breathe a sigh of relief, realising the government automatically signed you up for one because you’re a VAT-registered business that had previously traded with the EU.
It’s January 2021 and Britain’s commerce with the EU is now governed by the free-trade deal Johnson signed in October.
Your hauler has arrived and picked up your goods. It’s now in his hands.
Before setting off, he remembers hearing about a new IT system which will manage U.K.-EU trade after Brexit.
He wonders if he should look it up before heading off to Dover. But then again, we have a free-trade deal with the EU, and he doesn’t want to miss the ferry.
Your truck driver sets off for Dover, a journey he’s been doing for 25 years.
But today is different. On the approach to the port, he sees an official in a high-viz jacket waving for him to pull over. He stops the vehicle.
He is told that he has entered Kent without a Kent Access Permit, meaning he will get a £300 fine and must take his truck to a nearby Brexit truck park until it has the correct customs declaration.
Your hauler rings you to share the bad news. And because of the delay, he’s going to miss the ferry. Your shipment won’t arrive in Germany on time.
You failed.
It’s a good thing you logged on. You need a government permit to travel to Dover, and you get one by declaring on the Smart Freight System that you are border ready.
It’s taken longer than usual to get to Dover, with extra traffic on the roads as drivers with missing paperwork are being directed to Brexit truck parks. But your hauler has their pass and eventually reaches the port.
He sits waiting for his ferry to be called, completing the crossword while the White Cliffs of Dover loom behind. And suddenly, it’s time to board.
Your driver gets on to the ferry and tucks into a coffee and croissant.
A screen indicates which registration numbers will be checked by French customs. Your vehicle registration is marked in green. All is well!
Your truck rolls off into France and onwards to Germany.
Congratulations, you crossed the Brexit border!
Your driver gets on to the ferry and tucks into a coffee and croissant.
A screen indicates which registration numbers will be checked by French customs. Your vehicle registration is marked in amber: you’re going to face a routine check from officials.
No need to panic! You have all the documents, this should be fine.
Oh no! French officials notice your shipment has an incorrect commodity code and therefore an invalid customs declaration.
It’s an honest mistake to make, but it’s going to be costly. You urgently try to rectify the error. Within the hour, you’ve e-mailed over a new customs declaration to your driver.
But now the French customs office has closed for the day. Your driver is going to have to wait until the morning for permission to move. He’ll miss his delivery slot in Germany.
You failed.