@DavidHenigUK @AnnaJerzewska Another day goes by as we attempt exports to Ireland and Europe. What we are seeing is confusion on the part of logistics operators. As a business we are able to provide all that we are being asked; EORI, VAT numbers, Com. Codes, RoO etc 1/

but there are even the smallest of problems with full-stops in VAT numbers and Com. Codes. sometimes they are requested and sometimes not. Get it wrong and the shipments stops... somewhere. 2/

These are barriers that prevent us and others from efficiently moving good to customers. Barriers that we were assured were not going to exist. But they do exist. No business feels that there is good support and advice or even that govt. is on our side, or even aware. end/

PS: Today is trying to contact @UPS to find out how we can arrange #VAT so that customers do not have to pay upon delivery and their experience remains the same. But I'm sure all will be well; Boris will sort this all out...

UPDATE /1: Starting a huge project to cull products that are for sale where it is not economical to spend time shipping to/from the EU. Ultimately, this affects customer choice. We were told that if asked to submit forms at customs borders, we should rip them up bc. not needed.

UPDATE /2. We've just been looking on the govt. website about NI EORI (XI) numbers. In three paragraphs it seems to contradict itself on whether we need one to send goods there. Confusion starts here... https://www.gov.uk/eori 

UPDATE 3/. We have applied for an XI number on the basis that govt. advice is unclear whether we need one or not. If we have one, we'll submit it with our export docs. It is there if someone wants it. We've not shipped anything out of GB today because logistics have still not 1/

been able get a consignment across border to Netherlands. Six days so far & no SPS checks needed. Discussions at work on whether we should serve customers in Ireland from our Swedish warehouse. Some savings 2b made depending on incoterms but higher costs for shipping. More tmrw.

Wednesday. Morning all and welcome to Wednesday's adventures in #exporting with "no non-tariff barriers." @UPS are having a problem with their paperless invoicing that starts the customs processes earlier for a consignment. We are unable to create labels at the moment.

Another logistics operator is advising that it is taking a minimum of 5 days to clear customs on the EU side. Add to this about 6 days of backlogs in the UK and the time it is taking to get the documentation correct, we are getting close to 3 weeks between ordering and clearance.

A new question for anyone still reading this. How do businesses create the correct export documents for spare parts that are FoC? #BrexitReality #Customs

We are ready as it turns out. We have all numbers & codes and are clear on #RoO thanks to @AnnaJerzewska and the team yesterday. The problem is clearly logistics and EU BoMs. It is taking them days to clear consignments. That creates a backlog here and new /1

customs agents are still learning the ropes meaning it is taking hours to input data into many different systems they use. /2

@DavidHenigUK @pmdfoster @BBCkatyaadler @adamfleming On a different note, heard someone say these problems, delays and red tape in mainland Europe are why we left the EU. Er... no... not having to deal with red tape was a benefit of membership of the EU we helped create. end/

Saturday 23rd Jan. Friday was another day of inching forward with logistics companies, accounting software and reassuring customers that we are going to be able to deliver, soon... ish. 1/

As in an earlier post, there is still confusion surrounding whether and when to use a Northern Ireland EORI (XI) number. It is free to apply and we decided that it was better to have one and add it to customs forms along with our 'GB' version too. 2/

We are looking at sending spares to our EU office in one shipment and when spares are needed, they can be packed and sent to anywhere in Europe from there. This means a single customs declaration to the continent and then nothing else is needed, especially for the customer. 3/

It is hardly good customer service to send FoC spares and be landed with a VAT or Duty payment before you can receive it. The downside to this is finding a way to get it across Europe for a reasonable cost. We have worked with @UPS for a long time and we are hoping to 4/

negotiate a deal for shipping around the EU. We hope to hear more next week. Incidentally, @UPS are becoming more and more reluctant to discuss how Taxes, Duties and other charges are going to be levied on shipments. Either they simply are inundated with questions like this or 5/

The agents are still unfamiliar with this aspect of our new trading relationship. We have sent two shipments out of GB this week; one to NI and the other to Germany. We wait to see what happens. We have also had an invoice from @UPS this week for a single shipment to 6/

the Netherlands. The charges were 103GBP and consisted of border fees, handling charges, VAT and more. We have asked how these are all derived but so far we have not heard back. We are ready to send a shipment to Sweden and Norway too; the items are palletised but now we wait 7/

to see what the logistics company want in the way of info. Carton sizes and weights, both NET and Gross, values, statements on origin are no problem. What is a problem is that for every logistics company there is a different format and different terminology used. We have to 8/

create unique documents for each one. But as mentioned earlier, these people have never had to deal with this before and they are working it out day-by-day. We submit the data and they come back and tell us it needs to be changed to a different format. And of course, there 9/

charges for these services now which we will have to pass on to customers. All this needs to be integrated into existing process within the business meaning long conversations with different stakeholders about coding. 10/

Another aspect to the business supply chains at the moment are shipping and container problems. I have worked in China for many years and now find myself working with them at a distance. Good relationships have been forged particularly with shipping agents in Shenzhen. 11/

We were lucky to bring our last container in just before prices rose to very high levels as you can read here. 12/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55740063

We are looking at pre-booking containers for shipments in May hoping the future cost will be less than the price of a shipment next week. There is hope prices will fall but little confidence they will return to previous levels. 13/

Bringing 2x20ft containers in,1 to GB and another to Sweden rather than 1x40ft to the UK before splitting the contents and sending half to the EU would avoid paying tariffs twice, once into GB and then again into the EU. 14/

It should be fairly straightforward but only when the costs are back to where they should be and ports like Southampton and Felixstowe are able to cope. We recently were handed port storage costs because Evergreen Shipping didn't know the container was back on board a vessel 15/

heading to Southampton having been stranded in Dunkirk for a couple of weeks. This was all done to congestion we understand. 16/

But we are not the only ones. If you want to read more about how our new post #Brexit trading world is affecting businesses in the UK, may I direct you too this excellent thread end/ (Until next week.) https://twitter.com/DanielLambert29/status/1352887380827643904?s=20

able to cope again.