After a few minutes in the queue eyeing the best offer at the local deli, it’s decision time.
Perhaps some of Italy’s best Parma ham? With a few slices of Spanish chorizo? And a piece of Brie from that farm in Normandy… oh, and of course some black olives from Greece.
Government can shed light New and cumbersome Brexit rules and rules affecting imports from the EU into the UK which came into force on 1 January, but are not organizations representing small UK firms. Firms are concerned about the impact on their businesses — and about the options their customers will have available at their favorite specialist stores — on the high street.
The Federation of Small Business cites local cuisine, many of which are imported from small specialist suppliers. I, as the types of operators that can be adversely affected.
“Classic examples are your high street deli importing dishes like chorizo from Spain or parmesan from Italy,” says James Sibley, the federation’s head of international affairs. “For them, the idea of registering for these systems is daunting and the process is expensive, so we have a lot of concern there. For the small businesses that have been directly affected, we have expressed a lot of concern.”
The hit for the UK could be similar to that experienced for smaller EU exporters UK exporters to the EU in the past year, many of whom have given up selling goods to the continent because post-Brexit export rules have made it too troubled and too expensive to continue.
Since the start of last year UK exporters have faced additional paperwork, additional costs, and their customers hurt as a result of higher prices – claims notwithstanding. boris johnson, Michael Gove and other Brexiteers that leaving the EU would reduce regulation and bring prices down.
Now, Sibley says, the impact for smaller UK importers could be similar to those facing UK exporters in 2021.
“This is the reverse of what has happened to UK exporters over the past year. We know that a fifth of our exporting members have stopped exporting to the EU because of that disruption.”
For the rules to take effect from 1 January, it requires businesses (in most cases that receive goods in the UK, but in some are shipping them here) to customs officials what is being shipped from the EU to the UK. Where is it, and from where is it being sent? , the rules were in effect throughout 2021. This process will require the exporter to obtain and then submit an Eori number (Economic Operator Registration and Identification Number) to its UK customers so that the importer can input a lot of data and send it. UK officials.
If the goods arrive with incomplete paperwork, it may be confiscated, confiscated or returned.
Sibley says there is evidence that many EU exporters are unprepared for what will hurt them.
“What we are hearing is that there are some EU traders who are not prepared for this, even to the extent of not having this number, so it is a concern.”
Then on July 1st of this year there will be more rules and checks. “Since then, exporters will also require export health certificate or veterinary certificate if they are exporting products or food items of animal origin. It’s a point at which some EU exporters can simply say, ‘You know what, forget it. It’s not worth the trouble.”
Sibley adds: “Also in July you will have a physical inspection of goods at border checkpoints in the UK, so again there may be delays as you will essentially have a vet with a clipboard going through the lorry. That’s it. Right, that’s right, (or not)’.”
Business groups say the problems will primarily affect smaller operators, as larger concerns could afford to pay customs agents or freight forwarders to handle the paperwork for them.
On the high streets of the UK, some shop owners are already worrying about shortages and rising prices that will appear on their shelves in 2022.
El Colmado, Bristol’s only Spanish deli, imports pretty much everything: chorizo sausage, giant serrano hams and briny, green olives. Its owner, David Pawan, expects more disruption and rising prices when importers receive real-time custom declarations, input details of food imports into various customs systems, and special codes for lorries to board the ferry. Is required. it happens.
“Logistics problems have already escalated over the past year due to the havoc that has been brewing in England,” he says. “So I think in January we are going to see even more delays, because if a lorry driver has to sit at the border for six hours or more, we have to pay his wages. We have to enter the information Pay to customs agents to and from Spain [required for import], which also increases the price. ,
Pawan, 41, has already raised its prices – and expects to do so again in 2022. “They’re still going up and you’ll see growth and growth,” he says. “Someone is making money along the way but you and I have to pay for it.”
The same concerns wholesalers and specialist food shops providing daily supplies. The Reading-based Cotswold Fair, which supplies hundreds of premium food lines to independent retailers across the UK, including European favorites such as Stollen and Panettone, has been blamed for delays and cost overruns on imported goods rather than investing in the creation of new jobs. has been criticized. The budget is tight. ,
“It’s not what we want to do — I’d love to spend on starting another shop, but we’ll do it if we have to.” [absorb extra costs],” says company founder Paul Hargreaves.
Hargreaves recently met with his local MP, Alok Sharma, feels that the government does not understand the implications of Brexit on British businesses. ,[Ministers] are not in the real world. They think things are easier than they really are. It is extremely disappointing,” he says.
“If they had to experience it for themselves, maybe a little more effort would have been made to do better” Brexit deal. idea that ideology [of Brexit] More important than practicality for businesses in the UK.”