Carol Lynch comments on alternatives to Border backstop and HMRC’s simplified customs checks
05 February 2019
Carol Lynch, Partner, Customs and International Trade Services was recently featured in The Irish Times articles ‘UK looking for alternatives to Border backstop. Do they exist?’ and ‘Border trade not covered by simplified ‘no deal’ customs checks, UK says’.
In the articles, Carol provides insight into what is possible for authorised economic operators and the implications of the UK government’s new simplified customs procedures between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Referring to authorised economic operators, Carol indicates that 95% of pre-registered trucks can pass through a border without additional checks. The next 3% would be required to complete checks on paperwork afterwards. The remaining 2% would then be subject to full physical inspections, either because they are assessed as risky, or just due to random control.
Commenting on HM Revenue and Customs’ temporary decision to reduce the amount of information required from companies in an effort to simplify the customs procedure, Carol says that this is highly significant for Irish exporters to Britain. “The simplified procedure would allow Irish exporters who are VAT-registered and established in the UK to import goods and defer making a full declaration and defer customs duties until the month following import. This would simplify a lot of requirements for Irish exporters to Britain.”
BDO is currently running a session every week until the end of March to help companies familiarise themselves with the basics of Customs in a post-Brexit environment. If you move goods across Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK, and you would like to avail of this training, please contact [email protected]
Content adapted from ‘UK looking for alternatives to Border backstop. Do they exist?’ by Cliff Taylor, and ‘Border trade not covered by simplified ‘no deal’ customs checks, UK says' by Simon Carswell.