A majority of businesses moving goods overseas have encountered difficulties at the border in recent times, a new poll has found.
At a webinar hosted by the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade yesterday (23 October), 58% of delegates said they’d faced difficulties recently, with a further 14% saying they were ‘not sure’ if they had or not.
The webinar was titled ‘How to avoid your goods getting stuck at the border’ and was hosted in partnership with Customs4trade.
Safety and security concerns
UK businesses have had to navigate various new rules and processes to move goods over the border since Brexit, with further changes still to come under Britain’s Border Target Operating Model (BTOM).
One of the major upcoming BTOM changes is a new requirement for safety and security (S&S) declarations on European goods entering Britain.
During the webinar, just under half of the audience said they were ‘not very’ or ‘not at all’ confident about either their or their hauliers’ knowledge about this new process.
“A lot of importers and exporters probably don’t realise this is happening,” said Matt Vick, a customs and trade specialist at the Chartered Institute.
Haul them in
Vick noted that the government recently postponed S&S declarations on EU imports from coming in on 31 October 2024 to the end of January next year.
“You need to talk to your hauliers to make sure they know this change is coming.
“If they are aware there are two questions you should be asking. Firstly, will they continue to serve the UK… Secondly, if they are, make sure they are equipped to do it.
“This is new for hauliers as well as for traders. They will need to have facilities or an agent in place that can handle S&S declarations for the UK.”
“If this isn’t adequately prepared for, you will encounter delays once S&S declarations become a requirement,” he added.
He also presented on border IT systems that traders often need to use for cross-border goods movements, including the Customs Declaration Service and the Goods Vehicle Movement Service.
Automation an answer?
The webinar also included a presentation from Customs4trade’s director of strategic customer engagements, Ludovic Demeyere, about potential technological solutions for streamlining cross-border trade processes.
However, in response to another poll in which most delegates (60%) said they were not yet using ‘automation solutions’ for customs declarations, he advised that businesses need to have an assurance of their “data quality” before exploring such tools.
“It all comes back to data quality,” he said.
"Garbage in is garbage out – if your commodity codes are not put in properly into your system… then it’s hard to do automation.”
He also said knowledge of how a business’ supply chain operates, including which Incoterms are being used, is key to getting the most from automation.
AI warning
Both Vick and Demeyere warned delegates that, while new AI tools could help businesses in many ways, the legal nature of customs processes makes it important that the “end decision is made by a human”.
Demeyere noted that Customs4trade has an AI classification support tool, but that he advises clients to look at it as being “like a personal assistant… not a customs advisor”.
“Be careful, the risks are there, and it can be very damaging to the reputation of your company.”
“The problem is that [a customs declaration] is a legal document,” said Vick.
“If you have chosen a code that isn’t appropriate, you will suffer the consequences that will follow from a misdeclaration.”
He said that if firms do use AI, they should “verify” any suggestions it comes up with, adding that businesses need to understand the general legislative rules that accompany key customs data like commodity codes.