Reading, UK: At midnight on 1 January 2022 the requirements to pre-notify food goods, make customs declarations and use the new Goods Vehicle Movement System for transiting accompanied freight routes, came into force for movements from the EU into the UK.
Writing in the February issue of Cold Chain News, Shane Brennan, chief executive, Cold Chain Federation, explained the changes and the likely impact of yet more coming down the line. The new requirements are the latest in the series of post-Brexit customs changes, and the first of four phases of changes this year.
Originally planned for 2021, they were delayed by the UK government in the interests of better preparation and this delay still applies for goods moving from Ireland to the UK while discussions continue on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
“While the disruption to UK-EU exports this time last year affected UK businesses far more than UK consumers, disruption to imports will be more visible for consumers too. It is no surprise then that government and the media are watching like hawks as the changes take effect.” Brennan said.
“We can be positive so far about how the new processes are working in comparison to January 2021. However, it is concerning that trade levels in January were low, and the range of hauliers moving goods in the early weeks was mostly the well-prepared UK specialists. Even so, there are plenty of reports of lorries arriving at the ports without complying with the new requirements, and there are teething troubles on points of detail. Lorries have been turned back or held at port of exit because of errors ranging from not having GMR clearance (the port entry requirement of GVMS) to enter the ferry or train, to a single mistake in data entry.
“Two potential mistakes worth double checking are entering the trailer registration number rather than the vehicle number in the relevant customs/GVMS entry, and entering the wrong RRS01 code, which designates from where the goods are exiting/entering the UK.” Brennan said.
For the full report see the February issue of Cold Chain News available as a PDF on this website.
