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Home | Internacional | European forwarders facing other issues almost as big as Brexit
Postado em 29 de janeiro de 2019 | 17:00

European forwarders facing other issues almost as big as Brexit

CLECAT highlights major changes relating to the regulatory and administrative frameworks of international trade that are also a challenge.

European freight forwarding association CLECAT is concerned that several other issues, in addition to a possible ‘no deal’ Brexit, could stretch forwarders’ capacity to cope over the coming months.

The European association for Freight Forwarding, Logistics and Customs Services, believes its members are in a relatively good state of preparedness should a ‘no deal’ Brexit come about, but it highlighted other major changes in the pipeline relating to the regulatory and administrative frameworks of international trade that were also a challenge.

“Currently, in the European Union, almost all fundamental aspects concerning trade are ‘under construction’, so to speak, for EU Member States, companies and the Commission,” the Brussels-based trade body’s senior manager, Dominique Willems, told Lloyd’s Loading List in an interview.

“The new Union Customs Code (UCC) is still in the process of implementation, which involves the re-assessment of all authorisations, including AEO, and the update of hundreds of IT systems on EU, national and private sector level. The EU VAT system is also being renewed this year, especially with regard to international trade and e-commerce (internet sales of low value consignments),” he explained.

In addition, the EU is implementing a number of trade agreements, Japan being one example, while the bloc is also facing the prospect of trade wars that could lead to the imposition of trade sanctions and restrictions in various parts of the world, Willems added.

“Each of these aspects will have impact on how international trade in conducted in future and is almost just as big as dealing with Brexit,” he claimed.

Willems also highlighted that the past few years had seen an increase in the demand for services provided by customs brokers and freight forwarders, leading to a shortage in employees with sufficient skills and knowledge − putting additional pressure on an already-demanding operating environment.

Returning to Brexit and the likelihood of more manpower being required to accommodate the potentially greater workloads resulting from the re-introduction of border controls, he noted that in contrast to government services departments, forwarders did not have the flexibility to hire and train additional staff in the expectation of possible extra work.

“You cannot recruit, say, 20 people and then tell them a month later they will not be needed any more because all of a sudden there is a (Brexit) deal or the process is being postponed,” Willems stressed. “Dealing with a ‘no-deal’ Brexit is not unmanageable, but it is very challenging.”

 

Source: Lloyd´s


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