We can have plain sailing after Brexit
I WORKED in the port of Dover for more than 40 years with a leading Customs agent and prior to 1973 when we joined what later became the EU. Let us for a moment put aside complex negotiations about what is and is not possible when we leave the EU next March and take into account how goods currently move between us and Europe. Firstly, let us look at UK goods destined for the EU, remembering by March next year we should have control of our own borders. Our status will become ‘third country’ and liable allegedly to border checks at the point of entry into the EU. Why? In Dover port we discharge cargo arriving direct from South America but destined for companies in Rotterdam and other European centres. These arrivals are obviously third country (non-EU goods) but are not declared as entering into the EU for Customs purposes at Dover. They are sent to the Continent under a T1 (an EU-sanctioned bank-guaranteed document to ensure arrival at a specific destination in an EU country). This enables these goods to travel freely across the borders of France, Belgium and other EU countries, without checks, to EU-approved Customs Clearance depots all over Europe. At these inland depots they clear Customs, attain ‘Free Circulation’ status then move around EU countries unhindered. After Brexit, why will it not be possible to use a similar system for, say, a truck of car parts from the UK travelling to a plant in Germany, thus avoiding border checks? Let us now reverse the scenario, using a truck of grapes loaded in Spain and destined for the UK. The UK’s hMRC should have a system requiring registered firms to input all the details of a consignment as soon as it leaves its loading point for the UK. If accepted, hMRC would then issue a unique Import Passport Authority (IPA) reference, linking all the information including the truck and container details and so on. The truck arrives at, say, Calais, and quotes the IPA reference for the sea crossing to Dover. The shipping line will create a freight manifest, using a template supplied by hMRC, quoting the IPA. If accepted by the system, an authority to load to the ferry will be given, confirming all details. Should these not tally, the truck will have to stay in Calais until resolved. Any Customs duties due would automatically be calculated when the manifest is made live on sailing. This would require either importers or their agents to have BankGuaranteed Duty Deferment accounts, which many already have. Such a system will ensure ports such as Dover only receive trucks that can move straight through the port subject to hMRC inspection requirements. It also reduces the administration for EU countries. The IPA could be adapted with a special transit segment that could be forwarded automatically to crossing points on the Irish border, which should result in minimal delays. For trucks from Eire it should be possible to use a similar system to enter or cross the UK into the EU. I am aware imports and exports can have different transit requirements, but come March we have to start somewhere. We do not have to reinvent the wheel to solve these problems, just look at and adapt existing tried-and-tested systems. I would suggest this is undertaken by the logistics industry and kept away from bureaucrats and civil servants as time is of the essence.