Maurice Greig might have expected a well-earned break over Christmas, having spent 2021 struggling with the post-Brexit bureaucracy now required to export his tailor-made gentlemen’s accessories to the EU.
But instead the 74-year-old owner of the Greig & Greig Partnership gave up at least part of the festive season in order to pore over UK government technical guidance for new border controls about to be introduced on imports from the EU.
Starting in January, UK importers must complete customs declarations in real time; pre-notify the authorities of incoming animal and plant products; and be able to produce proof that the goods they are importing from the EU qualify for tariff-free access to the UK.
“It will do my head in,” said Greig in the stockroom of his London boutique, which is filled with samples of expensive handmade leather gloves, belts and fancy-handled Italian umbrellas. “but then I’m only a very small business, I don’t have anyone else to help.”
Business groups have warned that the new import controls, which were delayed by one year in order to keep trade flowing, will put considerable new pressure on small businesses in 2022 as they continue to adjust to trading outside the EU single market.
Greig & Greig is one of thousands of micro enterprises that the Federation of Small Businesses trade group has warned are insufficiently prepared for the new checks after a membership survey found that only a quarter of businesses were ready.
A survey from Institute of Directors, the bosses organisation whose members generally represent larger businesses, found one-third were “not at all prepared” for the changes.
Business groups and officials concede that it is impossible to predict exactly how the changes will impact the flow of imports from the EU, which in 2020 accounted for 50 per cent of all UK imports, worth £300bn.
Senior government officials responsible for the border told MPs in November that businesses were being contacted about the changes, including on the other side of the Channel, where EU hauliers and exporters will also need to get prepared.
The biggest source of concern about possible disruption comes from the requirement for lorries entering the UK to obtain an authorisation code from the UK’s goods vehicle movement services, or GVMS, prior to boarding a ferry.
To obtain the code, their paperwork must be in order. From January 1 this will mean customs declarations and duty payments can no longer be deferred by up to 175 days, and animal and plant products must be preregistered with the UK’s import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS).
Jim Harra, the permanent secretary at HM Revenue & Customs, told MPs on the public accounts committee that “undoubtedly” some EU lorry drivers would be turned away because of the new system but he was “confident” they would soon adapt.