On 26th February 2019, CLECAT held its Brexit Preparedness meeting at the World Customs Organization in Brussels. The meeting was organised to exchange views and to inform Members about the various procedures to mitigate negative effects of a no-deal Brexit. More than 40 Representatives and Experts of the Freight Forwarding, Logistics and Customs service industry from 15 European Countries as well as the National Customs administrations of Belgium, France, Ireland and the Netherlands came together to exchange views and best practices.
The CLECAT Secretariat provided an update on the state of play of the Brexit negotiations and the actions undertaken at EU level for a possible no-deal scenario. Presentations were given by the Customs Authorities present and by CLECAT Members on the National preparedness efforts, border procedures and communication activities in the various EU countries. This included the procedures and other preparedness efforts of the most important corridors including Calais, Dover, Dublin, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge and the Eurotunnel.
Human and IT capacity of both the private and public sectors was also an important topic and special attention was given to the increased number of veterinary and phytosanitary checks upon entry into the EU and UK, which still require border checks.
One of the main conclusions of the meeting was that there are certain differences in the preparedness approaches undertaken in France and the UK, especially in terms of procedures and communication concerning transit. Even though the efforts in both Countries are much appreciated, smooth border procedures at Calais-Dover and Eurotunnel would require improved coordination and cooperation. In addition, the functioning of IT systems remains worrying. Currently, a lot of Member States are already coping with regular system failures on a weekly basis. This is of concern since using emergency (paperbased) procedures during a possible no-deal Brexit on 29th March 2019 would certainly lead to many problems. The Participants in the meeting also considered that preparedness efforts undertaken by companies not used to deal with border procedures, are still very limited. To avoid unnecessary delays at ports, in most cases unprepared companies will be turned away without a possibility to deal with necessary formalities at that location. Another main conclusion of the meeting was that the increased number of Safety and Security declarations will constitute quite a burden and would require a lot of coordination along the Logistic chain. In Ireland, for example, it is expected that the number of Declarations will increase from 100,000 to 25 million. The UK has ensured a waiver for these declarations in the first few months, but the EU will still require them.
Despite remaining worries, the main conclusion was that both the professional Forwarding and Customs industry and the National (Customs) Administrations have undertaken successful measures to mitigate negative effects of no-deal in the best possible way.
Next week, CLECAT will also take part in a follow-up meeting with European Commission’s DG TAXUD. The issues that remain are caused by the possibility of the UK leaving with no deal, which regardless of any preparations will lead to disruption and delays. CLECAT still considers that a no-deal should be prevented. Therefore, CLECAT calls upon negotiators and especially the UK Parliament to close the withdrawal deal as soon as possible. There is no time left for proposals on an alternative withdrawal agreement. Such proposals should have been put on the table when Article 50 was triggered or at the latest half a year ago. Closing the deal would provide the necessary transitional period and an opportunity to start negotiations and preparations for a future relationship, regardless of whether that would be a customs union, trade agreement or any other form of relationship.
