The Business Exchange Bath & Somerset Issue 15: Spring 2020 | Page 10

FINANCE IMPORTING & EXPORTING IN A POST-BREXIT WORLD The European Union (withdrawal agreement) Bill 2019-20 received Royal Assent on Tuesday 23rd January 2020. The UK is now separate from the EU in a legal sense and has entered a period of transition ending on 31st December 2020 – unless an extension is agreed. This means that UK businesses will need to comply with EU rules until at least 1st January 2021. Significant changes to the VAT requirements on intra-EU trade goods took effect from Wednesday 1st January 2020. These were designed to combat fraud and the UK is bound to these until Friday 1st January 2021, although a practical, fair approach to enforcement is hoped for. During this transition period, businesses also need to start preparing for trading with the EU under the new proposed framework of a Canada- style free-trade agreement, which involves complex VAT applications and procedures. If you are a UK business that relies on importing and exporting goods or services, do you understand how the new rules affect you? Have you started creating a plan for 2021 and beyond? Robert Hina runs Customs Bureaux Ltd, a specialist consultancy which helps organisations prepare for Brexit. Robert is a customs, import, export and international logistics expert. He is skilled in trade compliance, import/export controls and procedures and global freight forwarding. He said,“Many companies will be looking at advice from HMRC on the GOV.UK website and its newsletters. Unless you are an expert, the information is very hard to get your head around. I work with clients to break the process down and make it easier to understand and implement. “This year, SMEs that have not traded outside the EU need to examine how they will make customs import and export declarations post 2020 and how they will recover their VAT for EU sales.” Before setting up Customs Bureaux, Robert gained over thirty years’ experience in customs and trade compliance. He was an officer of HM Customs & Excise for 15 years and after that worked in both the commercial and private industry sectors. In his career, Robert has worked for JPMorgan on the Ford Europe contract, covered 3M Robert Hina UK, Ireland & Healthcare as their customs specialist and commenced their Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) programme and worked for Fisher Scientific UK Ltd as the European Trade Compliance Manager. We asked Robert if businesses should wait for any particular announcements before making a clear judgement on how they should move forward. He said, “It is a chicken and egg situation. SMEs don’t necessarily know what they need until some clarity emerges as to the post-2020 compliance landscape. Perhaps AEO will be helpful, along with Customs Warehouse and Inward Processing Relief, but they can take some time to obtain and a simple cost- benefit exercise needs to be undertaken, albeit that there are immediate cashflow benefits. In order to cover all contingencies, SMEs should examine what a ‘No-Deal’ would mean for their sector and goods.” “I think that a lot of scaremongering CUSTOMS BUREAUX is going on and that the future is bright. Companies just need clear plans in place to move ahead. We are only returning to the situation prior to January 1993, where customs entries were required at each Member State (MS) border, such as the German-Luxembourg border which I worked on in the summer of 1992 as part of a Matthaeus Exchange with a German officer. There have been vast leaps and bounds in terms of Electronic Customs Systems and it should be possible to get systems running for the end of 2020.” If you buy or sell goods within the EU or further afield and need help with documentation and or VAT expectations get in touch with Robert and find out how he can simplify the process. Email: [email protected] or call: 07968 849671 ADVERTISING FEATURE JELF INSURANCE BROKERS EVOLVE TO MARSH COMMERCIAL At Jelf Insurance Brokers, we’ve recently evolved to become Marsh Commercial. The change enhances our access to a wider range of services and solutions, offered by our parent company Marsh & McLennan, for UK businesses. Marsh Commercial serves clients across the UK. Priding ourselves on our local knowledge and dedication to support businesses of all sizes. We will work with you to understand your circumstances, the risks you face, and identify the most suitable solution to meet your individual needs. Should the unforeseen occur, we’ll support you every step of the way, to get your business back up and running. And as a thought leader, we’ll keep you up to date on the latest trends affecting your business, so you’re better prepared for any eventuality. For more information about Marsh Commercial please contact Heather Houlihan, Account Executive by email: Heather.Houlihan@ marshcommercial.co.uk or call on 0117 240 2000. Heather Houlihan Marsh Commercial is a trading name of Jelf Insurance Brokers Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Not all products and services offered are regulated by the FCA (for details see marshcommercial.co.uk/info/terms/). Registered in England and Wales number 0837227. Registered Office: 1 Tower Place West, London EC3R 5BU. FP20.021 For more info: www.marshcommercial.co.uk 10 www.tbebathandsomerset.co.uk