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Issue 1 2021 - Freight Business Journal


///CUSTOMS CLEARANCE Quality Freight ready for all eventualities


Quality Freight, the forwarding and shipping arm of Liverpool, Heysham and Sheerness owner Peel Ports, is now offering a general customs clearance and brokerage service to new and existing customers. It already offers shipping, port


operations, storage and transport services for logistics flows around the world. Quality Freight managing director Sebastian Gardiner


explains: “By increasing staffing levels and through multi-skilling existing personnel in other Quality Freight departments, we have bolstered skill sets and ensured we are well prepared for any increased capacity.” Earlier, in November, Gardiner


urged importers and exporters to prepare robust customs clearance procedures ahead of 1 January to avoid delays. However, with the negotiations between the UK


government and the EU going down to the wire in December, Quality Freight set up for either a deal or no-deal Brexit to ensure the smooth movement of cargo. It issues a welcome pack to new that


customers explains what


is needed from them in order to complete the required customs procedures and the appropriate documentation that will be required. By doing this all parties are fully prepared to ensure a


seamless transition of goods. Quality Freight’s customs


clearance processing is totally online and the company has invested heavily in both personnel and IT


systems to ensure a


seamless customs clearance process. It has installed a bespoke clearance system that will enable the fast and accurate completion of customs declarations and will future-proof the business ahead of Brexit and beyond.


Gardiner declares: “Whether it’s


import, export, or transhipment, our expert team can manage our customers’ clearance processes and ensure they conform to


journey, a new and successful era of smart trade can be delivered more efficiently.” P&O Ferries sales director


Community Network Services is offering a post-Brexit border control tool to ease the movement of ro ro freight to and from the UK. The Border Entry and Exit


Movement Service (BEEMS) provides a fast track for freight using the customs pre-lodgement process, connecting transport offices and ferry operators with drivers. It also acts as a


direct interface with the UK Government’s Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) to keep drivers up to date during crossings and minimising any delays at ports. From next year, a Goods


Movement Record (GMR), generated by GVMS, will be required for every vehicle carrying a commercial payload entering the


UK on pre-lodgement routes - from 1 January for movements from Britain to Northern Ireland and all pre-lodgement routes into and out of the UK from 1 July. BEEMS is described as an easy-to-use interface for hauliers to create their GMR prior to each trip. It will initially be available for customers using


the Northern


Quality Freight, the forwarding and shipping arm of Liverpool, Heysham and Sheerness owner Peel Ports,


is now offering a


general customs clearance and brokerage service to new and existing customers. It already offers shipping, port


operations, storage and transport services for logistics flows around the world. Quality Freight managing


director Sebastian Gardiner explains: “By increasing staffing levels and through multi-skilling existing personnel in other Quality Freight departments, we have bolstered skill sets and ensured we are well prepared for any increased capacity.” Earlier, in November, Gardiner


urged importers and exporters to prepare robust customs clearance procedures ahead of 1 January to avoid delays. However, with the negotiations between the UK government and the EU going down to the wire in December, Quality Freight set up for either a deal or no-deal Brexit to ensure the smooth movement of cargo.


The honest broker of the customs industry Davies Turner shows its hand with new customs suite


Ireland routes from 1 January and for the English Channel routes before 1 July when full UK border


Matthew Bradley said: “New post- Brexit regulations may appear daunting, but BEEMS makes the process faster and simpler, helping hauliers and their drivers feel in complete control. With digitally delivered communication ensuring no time is wasted on any


It issues a welcome pack to new


customers that explains what is needed from them in order to complete the required customs procedures and the appropriate documentation that will be required. By doing this all parties are fully prepared to ensure a seamless transition of goods. Quality Freight’s customs


clearance processing is totally online and the company has invested heavily in both personnel and IT systems to ensure a seamless customs clearance process. It has installed a bespoke clearance system that will enable the fast and accurate completion of customs declarations and will future-proof the business ahead of Brexit and beyond. Gardiner declares: “Whether it’s


import, export, or transhipment, our expert team can manage our customers’ clearance processes and ensure they conform to all Customs/Statutory Bodies’ requirements. Staff are also undertaking additional training to ensure we can meet any increased capacity that Brexit may bring.


Davies Turner opened its new, modernised


customs floor


at its Dartford headquarters in readiness for the end of Brexit transition at the end of the year.


This, together with


similar, slightly smaller centres at its other UK bases including Avonmouth and Manchester, will house the new national customs clearance teams in time for the UK’s departure from the EU on 31 December. Director


Alan Williams


explained: “The new development allows us to increase numbers in the office by 30%. We have recruited over 30 new people and it will allow us to dramatically scale up the number of customs clearances that we perform.” The new centre will not


only house ongoing customs clearance activities but will also include a training suite to increase the number of staff at the forwarder with customs experience.


Williams says:


“Davies Turner operates an apprenticeship


scheme with


entrants spending time in all departments, giving it a skills base that is not permanently assigned to customs clearance duties but that can be tapped into with very little notice meaning we are well placed as a business to deal with the challenges that Brexit brings to our industry.” However, like almost all it


forwarders, has been a


challenge finding experienced customs staff. While Davies Turner initially started recruiting staff with customs experience, it has increasingly started to train people itself, using its wealth of in- house customs knowledge. The Dartford suite has been


fully partitioned off in line with Government Covid guidelines and each booth is fitted with two computer screens to allow staff to check company and HMRC information simultaneously. “This means that they can be more productive – and proactive,”


says Williams. Davies Turner will be able to


offer customs clearance services at every UK site and it also plans to offer a 24-hour service. Customs clearance in itself is


not necessarily complex he adds, but: “It’s the upscaling of it that could present problems.” Customer readiness for Brexit


varies greatly from company to company and, says Williams, a certain amount of “Brexit fatigue” may have crept in. The disruption to normal working life from the Covid crisis has not helped either. Davies Turner has however produced easy-to-understand schematic diagrams of the customs process to help clients understand what will happen. In time, the need for customs


clearance will probably change the pattern of trade as companies adapt their supply chains to avoid too many individual customs entries. While some high margin businesses may be able to absorb the £40 or so cost per clearance,


controls will be mandated. It is the first of several digital solutions CNS is developing to help hauliers drivers and supply chain partners with the complexities of Brexit. P&O Ferries mandated the use


of BEEMS on its Cairnryan - Larne route from January. CNS managing director


Henrik Pedersen, added: “We are excited to be the first operator to offer this innovative new digital solution, which will put


our


customers in the driving seat. They will have to deal with a lot of new customs requirements aſter Brexit, making it essential that we work together to ensure trade keeps flowing for the thousands of businesses and millions of consumers who rely on our services.” The core BEEMS product is


priced at £1 per GMR movement and ensures drivers will receive SMS alerts, updating them on


all Customs/Statutory Bodies’ requirements. Staff are also undertaking additional training to ensure we can meet any increased capacity that Brexit may bring.”


whether they are cleared for onward travel or being directed to customs for further inspection upon UK arrival. Users can also upgrade to create


their GMR movement through BEEMS, which interfaces directly with the Government GVMS system. The new tool also allows users to notify third parties – such as the cargo owner - about the status of the goods movements. P&O Ferries customers will only


be asked to pay £1 per movement on pre-lodgement routes for access to CNS BEEMS.


The additional


features will be free for the first three months. To register


for BEEMS visit:


https://www.cnsonline.co.uk/ home/#/beemssignup


others may not. The process could also lead to firms setting up buffer stocks and partially abandoning just-in-time logistics practices. Davies Turner managing


director Michael Stephenson adds that some companies in the UK are relocating their stocks to warehouses on the Continent to retain free circulation while some EU firms are setting up distribution warehouses in the UK. Perhaps, he adds, the economic


advantages and disadvantages of Brexit may eventually cancel each other out, but the reasons for it are probably ideological as much as commercial. In the short term the UK economy is expected to experience a considerable negative effect, but of course this will be much reduced if a trade agreement can be reached. But, as Williams says, the


freight industry is nothing if not adaptable: “At the end of the day, everything is a process. When regulations like CTPAT in the US or the Verified Gross Mass rules came in, it was said that everything would grind to a halt, but trade has kept on flowing. It will be the same with customs clearance.”


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