The way businesses import goods from the EU has changed, post-Brexit. New controls have been introduced under the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM). These categorise Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) products - animals, animal products, plants and plant products, and composites of these - according to a risk category and introduce measures including pre-notification of import, health certification requirements and physical inspections.
On 27th June, OneAdvanced hosted a webinar with experts representing two of the key trade industry bodies affected by the changes.
Tom Southall is Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Cold Chain Federation, a specialist trade association for temperature-controlled logistics, representing any business involved in the movement of perishable goods.
Anna Doherty is Senior Trade and Customs Specialist at The Institute of Export and International Trade, an educational body representing importers and exporters in the UK, and is also Industry Chair of the HMRC Joint Customs Consultative Committee (JCC).
Here, we summarise some of the key takeaways and soundbites from the discussion.
Impact of new EU import rules
The January and April changes have increased the cost and complexity of trading with the EU.
From January, meats, cheeses and plants have required a vet to certify the product before it sets off for its journey to the UK. From April, physical checks have been introduced for some of these products as they enter the UK. This has added a layer of cost, with charges involved, increased journey time, and welfare issues as drivers are delayed at checking points. It also lies with the importer to certify the products’ risk category, leaving significant room for error.
“When you are dealing with temperature-controlled products, particularly chilled products, time really is of the essence. Even an hour or two-hour delay can really affect the quality of that product.” – Tom
Luckily, there have been some easements already and more of a phased approach introduced.
Mitigation efforts – Moving away from groupage
One way that businesses might be able to reduce the disruption is reevaluating how they group their goods.
“Each consignment requires fees and certification, so if you have lots of consignments on a truck, those fees soon multiply and it gets quite prohibitively expensive. We are likely to see a move away from smaller consignment imports to bigger full truckloads.” – Tom
Full truckloads with fewer journeys can reduce the fees and friction.
Anna seconded moving away from mixed groupage models, suggesting that in an ideal situation where there is a single dedicated truck transporting just one item, everything is likely to work smoothly – but this is very rarely the case. If one item is held up, all your items will be held up. Therefore, it could help businesses to look at the products that they import and put them into shipments of the same risk category. It might make sense to start transporting SPS and non-SPS goods separately, to avoid delays on SPS goods affecting all your import flows.
However, whether this solution works will be different for each individual business. Businesses need to investigate if they have enough trucks to support separating out imports and if they have the right software to support this kind of segmentation.
Tom also suggested an opportunity for collaboration to reduce empty trailers - working between businesses to consolidate loads into a single truck.
Digitalisation
“Data is everything. You have to have good control of your data and know what you have and what you don’t have.” – Anna
Anna suggested that digitalisation and the flow of information between all the supply chain partners will make adaptation easier.
If you can see where you are bringing your goods from clearly and how often issues occur, you can assess if there are opportunities to diversify. For example, if you have one product coming from one supplier that always gets into difficulties with the checks, you could consider increasing the amount of suppliers you use for that product. Conversely, if one supplier is very good at meeting the requirements, you can increase your orders with them. There are opportunities to increase efficiency through this kind of analysis, but only with full visibility of your data.
October changes
The first two phases of BTOM affected traders of SPS goods. However, from 31 October, safety and security declarations are needed for all goods being imported from the EU. This is the responsibility of the operator of the active means of transport. While these kind of requirements are already commonplace for non-EU imports, this is likely to have a big impact on those who are not used to them.
“For businesses that are importing from the EU only, especially via road freight, this will be like a Brexit 3.0, as there will be another layer of change to prepare for.” - Anna
Watch the full webinar back here.
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How OneAdvanced’s supplier and contract management solutions can help
Storing supplier and contract data in disparate tools, like spreadsheets and email chains, makes it difficult for logistics and manufacturing firms to fully assess the situation when regulatory changes like BTOM hit.
As Anna mentioned, total visibility of data is key to adapting with success.
The most prepared businesses will have mapped their supplier and partner base, allowing them to see ahead to any potential issues. OneAdvanced’s supplier and contract management solutions help you gain this oversight.