Brexit Update: De impact van Brexit op het Britse bedrijfsleven en de Ierse grens

Image
Polaroid photos of the UK

De eerste maand na de Brexit is achter de rug. Omdat veel bedrijven eind vorig jaar aan beide zijden van het Kanaal voorraden hadden aangelegd waren de eerste weken relatief rustig. Toen het aantal zendingen weer ging toenemen ontstonden er problemen met de Britse douanesystemen en de systemen in Frankrijk kraakten. De problemen met het Britse NCTS systeem zijn inmiddels weer opgelost.

Het effect van de Brexit op het Britse bedrijfsleven

Bedrijven in het Verenigd Koninkrijk hebben niet alleen te maken met de effecten van corona, maar ook met die van de Brexit.

Bloomberg schrijft:

Government officials acknowledge that logjams could mount as cross-channel flows return to normal levels from around 75% currently, though they don’t expect them to reach the worst-case scenarios modeled last year. They also say some difficulties are linked to the need for truckers to have a negative Covid test, rather than Brexit.

But businesses say what was once simple is now cumbersome. Documentation -- especially for loads with different types of goods from multiple suppliers, known as groupage -- is among the issues causing delays.

En in één van hun andere updates:

Cross-border goods trade with the European Union is almost back to normal levels, U.K. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said, despite concerns from haulers that post-Brexit paperwork is choking their operations.

Some of the decline is down to stockpiling of goods in the run-up to the deadline of Dec. 31, when the U.K. left the EU customs and market regimes, he said. Only about 3% of trucks are being turned back as they try to leave and that is partly because drivers need to take coronavirus tests, Shapps told the panel.

Reuters schrijft:

British manufacturers suffered a double hit last month as COVID-19 disruption to global shipping combined with new trade barriers with the European Union, according to a survey published on Monday.

Data firm IHS Markit said its monthly survey of the factory sector showed a hit to new export orders, signs of supply chain problems and inflation pressure.

Fhaheen Khan, an economist at Make UK, a manufacturing lobby group, said the worst of the supply chain challenges were yet to come as many manufacturers were still working down stockpiles.

“The impact of both COVID-19 and leaving the EU could linger for many years to come,” he said.

The Guardian schrijft:

A survey by Make UK of its members shows that 60% of companies that said there were ready for Brexit “now experience disruption” and are “also finding supply chains significantly impacted.

En The Guardian in een ander artikel:

Hundreds of UK companies could switch operations to countries inside the EU in what is threatening to become a dramatic exodus of investment and jobs caused by Brexit.

The Observer can reveal that by 1 January this year some 500 businesses – mostly UK-owned, or UK-based with overseas owners – were already making inquiries about setting up branches, depots or warehouses in the Netherlands alone, for “Brexit-related reasons”. Since then the number of inquiries from UK companies has increased further.

If companies switch all or parts of their operations to Europe it will mean the loss of jobs, economic activity and tax revenue at home.

De grens tussen het Verenigd Koninkrijk en Ierland

Nu het Verenigd Koninkrijk de Europese Unie heeft verlaten is er een harde grens tussen Ierland en het Verenigd Koninkrijk. De grens tussen Ierland en Noord-Ierland is geen harde grens, hoewel Noord-Ierland toch deel uitmaakt van het Verenigd Koninkrijk. Dat is morgelijk door het Noord Ierland Protocol.

De BBC schrijft:

Northern Ireland continues to follow many of the EU's rules, meaning lorries can drive across the border without being inspected.

However, there is a new "regulatory" border between Northern Ireland and Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales). That's because, unlike Northern Ireland, Great Britain is no longer following EU law.

This means some checks on goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Inspections take place at Northern Ireland ports and some have said this amounts to a border in the Irish Sea.

Er gaan stemmen op om het Noord Ierland Protocol op te heffen, maar de Europese Unie en de Ierse regering zijn hierop tegen.

The Guardian schrijft:

The Brexit agreement’s Northern Ireland protocol will not be scrapped, the Irish government and the EU have said in an escalating row over the new trade barriers down the Irish Sea.

Boris Johnson and Gove have capitalised on the EU’s embarrassment over the move and threatened to trigger article 16 themselves in parliament and in a letter to Šefčovič on Tuesday.

The UK is now demanding a two-year extension to the Brexit grace period for checks on trade but the EU made it clear last night it regarded article 16 as an ultimate on which it would not capitulate.

Ondertussen heeft de Ierse Douane een workaround ingesteld voor Britse bedrijven die problemen ondervinden met het correct invullen van de benodigde papieren.

De Maritime Executive schrijft:

Ireland's customs agency has introduced a workaround for British exporters who are having trouble completing the paperwork required for international shipments between the UK and Ireland.

Customs challenges driven by Brexit have been predicted for years, and these difficulties are beginning to manifest on the UK's cross-channel ferry routes as well.

Blijf op de hoogte

Volg onze bedrijfspagina op LinkedIn om op de hoogte te blijven op het gebied van Brexit en andere ontwikkelingen op het gebied van douane en internationale handel. Heb je vragen over zaken doen in het Verenigd Koninkrijk, neem dan gerust contact met ons op, wij helpen je graag! Customs Support: Take the load off your mind.