Simple steps to ease customs compliance ahead of Brexit
Paul Healy says that completing customs procedures is more complicated than it sounds.
WITH Brexit fast approaching, there is still a short window of opportunity for companies to prepare for the new trading relationship between Ireland and Great Britain.
Paul Healy, chief executive of Skillnet Ireland, a business support agency of the Government, is urging businesses that have a trading exposure with or through Great Britain, to get ready for January 1.
Ireland’s business sector (as well as the international sector) has had a particularly challenging year because of Covid-19.
“With our partners, Skillnet Ireland have been to the fore in terms of responding on behalf of government and business,” says Mr Healy. The other major challenge is Great Britain leaving the customs union and the single market.
There will be additional customs declarations and procedures that haven’t existed before. Skillnet Ireland, which supports 18,000 businesses nationwide, is working with businesses to boost their customs capacity in advance of the New Year.
The impact of the end of the transition period on December 31 and beyond will be massive given that nearly 95,000 Irish firms trade with Great Britain. In 2019, the value of that relationship was over £62bn.
Mr Healy points out: “Completing customs procedures is more complicated than it may sound. There are a number of steps to it - and we are here to help. The scheme that Skillnet Ireland has available to employers is industry driven. It’s called Clear Customs. It’s a comprehensive training platform to assist relevant businesses in their compliance with customs declarations.”
The scheme, which is free, is delivered on an online mobile application. It promises to minimise any possible disruption to business and all training is compliant in terms of public health in that it is all done remotely on a digital platform. All employees that complete the programme will receive a certifying qualification at Level 6 from IT Carlow.
Eligible businesses must be involved in the import/export of facilitation of import/export of goods to, from or through Great Britain. They will also have an EORI (economic operations registration and identification) number which is issued by Revenue.
“There is still time for businesses to register with us. We would encourage businesses to visit skillnetireland.ie. All the details in terms of registration for Clear Customs are available there. The entire course takes five weeks. But that’s not every day for five weeks. It consists of modules, self-directed learning and assignments in between course work.”
The fact that Great Britain is departing from the customs union and the single market “inevitably means more administration. That means completing online customs declarations that were not required before.
Accuracy and compliance are really key so there is an up-skilling and training element to this. It takes practice to do the declarations efficiently, accurately and with speed.
The programme is delivered by one of Skillnet Ireland’s partners, CILT (Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport) Skillnet.
There are 2,000 active companies registered with the scheme to date. As Mr Healy says of his organisation “it is so important that with the new technologies and the way employment and the future of work is going, that up-skilling and lifelong learning (are a feature of work)”.
The impact of Brexit is going to be more severe in some sectors. “For example, the farming and agriculture food industry, where there is a significant exposure to the British market, are certainly facing challenges. Preparedness will really help some sectors more than others. The major issue with Brexit is the disruption it will cause.”
Bureaucracy will increase and this has a cost to business.
“New customs declaration and new logistics place administrative and cost burdens on companies which is not ideal, particularly when compounded by the impact of Covid-19.” (However, Enterprise Ireland is offering grants of up to €9,000 to employ or redeploy personnel to handle the additional workload.)
Despite the challenges, Mr Healy says he is optimistic about what’s in store for Ireland’s new trading relationship with and through Great Britain.
“From the way society and business have responded to coronavirus, it shows the adaptability and resilience that lies within us. We have seen cohesion and we see how the enterprise sector and business accommodated the public health requirements. So many businesses moved to digital platforms for online service and delivery and e-commerce. We’ve seen how the hospitality sector has been so innovative in terms of how they’ve tried to cope despite all the setbacks they’ve had. That gives me optimism. We can deal with the major challenges facing us. Business has the creative capacity, resilience and the strategic thought to overcome some of the biggest challenges.”
But if it hasn’t already done so, business needs to address Brexit immediately. Goods will only be able to move to and from Great Britain accompanied by a customs declaration.
Mr Healy stresses that businesses “and especially small firms can’t bury their head in the sand. They have to face challenges, particularly the challenge of Brexit in the coming weeks. It’s a question of just taking action.”
You have been warned.