Jan 13th, 2021
8 mins
We are being advised there are still issues with vehicles being denied entry to France.
Some of this is due to drivers who are not in possession of a negative Covid test. But some vehicles are also arriving without the correct paperwork, so it is essential all members exporting goods ensure their teams are aware of the new requirements.
We are also being asked to encourage companies to engage with a professional customs agent.
It is important to ensure your EU trading partner pre-notifies the importation of the goods, with the BCP in France, or other countries within mainland Europe.
For guidance of the required paperwork please refer to the guidance kindly supplied by the Customs Clearance Consortium.
It is also important to be clear on the Countries of Origin for the raw materials in your products to ensure you are not liable for tariffs.
Please see below the communication we have received this morning from Defra on this topic.
Further advice and guidance relating to the requirement for a customs/import agent in order to export to the EU:
Following several meetings with the French authorities held to identify the key documentation shortfalls Could we please remind you of the requirement that you have a designated customs/import agent in order to send a consignment to the EU. This agent has to be based in the EU and should notify the BCP of the arrival of any consignment you send to the EU. We have been asked by the French in particular to draw your attention to the need for that agent both to be available to be contacted to answer questions on your behalf and in some circumstances to be available to attend the BCP in person. For those of you who are used to exporting product from the UK to 3rd party countries outside the EU this will be familiar
What it does mean is that your agent needs to be relatively local to the BCP by which your consignment is entering, or at least to have an arrangement with an agent who is. We are aware that there is significant pressure on these agents and it may not be easy to find someone to take on this role, but we wanted to draw your attention to this need and to the risk that if there are any issues with your consignment at the BCP of entry then without a suitable agent who is contactable and available if necessary it may be more difficult to address whatever the issue is.
Close working with this agent is critical to a smooth entry as one of the main causes of non-compliance is inconsistency between the details entered on the notification on TRACES and those on the Export Health or Phytosanitary Certificate. Could we also please draw to your attention that when sending consignments into France you must enter the notification number off TRACES into the French smart customs system – this is what helps them determine which lorries enter which lane on arrival in France and without it your consignment is likely to be delayed at best.
Please may we take the opportunity to remind you of the Trader Notice which summarises exporting requirements.
You may also wish to attend the Defra webinar: Exporting goods from GB to the EU via the Short Straits on Thursday 14th January 2021 from 10:00 to 11:30 (UK time)
The Border and Protocol Delivery Group (BPDG) invite you to join this webinar, which will raise awareness of the border / procedural formalities required for exporting goods from GB to the EU via the Short Straits.
This event is for:
- UK exporters / their representatives
- EU importers / their representatives
- UK & EU transporters and logistics companies
Key objectives:
- Focus is on moving products of animal origin and products subject to sanitary and phytosanitary control.
- It will include GB and EU requirements on fulfilling responsibilities for certification, IT systems, customs and transit processes and the border procedures across the supply chain at GB and French ports / terminals and will outline the consequences / costs of failing to comply with the formalities to import goods into the EU.
- The webinar will also include case studies for exporting goods.
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/136408225675
