associations
BHETA lobbies government for latest on knife retail legislation
Ahead of the latest suggestions on the timing of new legislation in relation to the retailing of bladed items, The British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA) is again lobbying Government
With BREXIT implications very much back on the agenda, the British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA) hosted a webinar on the very latest news on import / export considerations, courtesy of BHETA Business Service Provider, logistics, supply chain and freight company Dachser. The key outtake of the event, which took place on 21st October was the need for sales teams to be negotiating now, alongside purchasing, operations, finance and administration.
Carolyn Hough, DIY & CHEM Business Development Manager at Dachser outlined the importance of all parts of the corporate team to be working together ahead of the result. Explaining that the adoption of which Incoterms was most advantageous to the seller (EXW / FCA) and buyer (DDP) respectively, it was crucial that all parties were involved in any decision.
The potential outcomes in the event of
The Association has approached Simon Eglington of the Tackling Crime Unit at the Home Office reference the ongoing Offensive Weapons Act 2019 consultation. The purpose of the lobbying is to reiterate the need for urgent advice ahead of any actual legislation to enable suppliers to put all legal requirements in place in a timely manner. BHETA has drawn attention to the fact that notwithstanding Covid-19, it is concerning that since initial responses to the Offensive Weapons Act Draft Statutory Guidance to the Home Office in October 2019, the industry is yet to receive any response from Government – even general guidance on potential timing. Having now heard indirectly that Spring 2021 is the most likely date for implementation of new legislation, BHETA has asked for an urgent update on the revised Statutory Guidance to be released to the industry as soon as possible. This would be to ensure that manufacturers, importers, suppliers and retailers had sufficient time to address labelling and process changes. BHETA and the leading industry suppliers set up a supplier / retailer steering group to identify collaborative initiatives that could contribute to responsible and safe knife
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retailing. Following initial meetings, consensus has been reached on the approach to roll-out Challenge 25 packaging and POS to include knives and bladed items. BHETA is also supporting the Metropolitan Police Knife Retailing group, hosting meetings with its representatives and attending meetings at New Scotland Yard, physically and virtually. Commenting on its latest approach, BHETA’s Chief Executive Officer, Will Jones said: “With all that has happened in 2020, delay to implementation is understandable and prudent in the light of the pandemic, but BHETA is now asking for an update on the latest thinking. While I appreciate the reasons for delay, suppliers and retailers do need time to implement any legislative changes to packaging and point of sale, so it is vital the industry receives timely Government advice.” BHETA regularly lobbies on subjects affecting
housewares, small electricals, DIY and garden members. It also provides member training and retail networking events, up to the minute data on market opportunities compliance advice. To find out more, contact Nicola Adams at the BHETA Member Services Team on 07946 078566, or alternatively, email on
na@bheta.co.uk.
non-engagement were that retailers could potentially hide behind long standing contracts putting risk and extra work on suppliers, and sales teams will agree too easily with what the retailers want to ensure relationships. Neglect of detail at this stage could mean that operations and finance must implement process changes with no chance of costs being recouped. Another area of potentially huge financial impact explained Carolyn was not knowing the WTO duty rates for products, or not knowing the individual VAT rate per export country.
She stressed that all suppliers should have
a financial plan to recoup the VAT. One consideration was whether suppliers had physical entities in their export targets or VAT entities in each country with deferment accounts in place. Without this cashflow would suffer from the inability to recover VAT. On the other hand, having to route all goods via specific VAT entities could impact lead times. Customs formalities and additional administration will also add time and money – another reason for sales be in talks with customers about potential Incoterms and for supplier companies to be in talks with carriers to investigate what they can offer in terms of support.
GCU Winter 2020
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