Finally, on 24th December 2020, the negotiators representing The United Kingdom and The European Union finally announced that they had reached an agreement, leading to a trade deal between the two parties. Once ratified by the respective parties, the terms of the agreement will be implemented on 1st January 2021.

 

As customs clearance specialists, one of our tasks will now be, to study the 1256 pages of text, in which details of the agreement are laid out. Having started on that process, we cannot yet pretend to be fully acquainted with the finer details.

 

What is know with absolute certainty is that, for most cargoes, import duties for shipments either into the EU or into the UK will be free from import duties. This will no doubt come as a huge relief to traders, who may have had to face significant additional costs, whilst experiencing an increase in their administrative overhead.

 

One area which we have attempted to understand from the Trade Agreement is whether the need for ISMP 15 standard pallets has been removed. Currently, all trade between non-EU partners does have to be transacted on heat-treated pallets. It should be that a trade agreement will remove this requirement. Thus far we have been unable to identify such a clause. No doubt we shall be able to provide some clarification on this point in due course. If however no provision has been made to over-ride the pallet specification requirement, then both exports and importers may need to comply with the need to change their pallet specification.

 

What still has to be done by many traders, is to register with a customs agent such as Cargo Flow Agency. This is a formal undertaking, requiring that the principal in either the export or import transaction must appoint an agent, whether exclusively or as a part of a panel of agents, to act on their behalf. It isn’t possible for an agent to act until that process has been followed. Please contact us today for an authorization form, price lists and accompanying documents.