While the goods are ultimately the business owner’s responsibility, the knowledge and experience of a freight forwarder and customs agent can help you make sense of the import procedure and the surrounding requirements.
Enlisting the help of these companies will minimise the risk of disruption or fines and allow you to focus on the other aspects of running your international ecommerce operation.
To import goods into the UK, you will need support from two types of company:
Vdepot works closely with freight forwarder Sovereign Cargo, making introductions for our customers when they need this support, allowing them to continue to easily trade within and from the UK. Sovereign in turn work with customs agents, managing the transportation and importing process on your behalf.
A freight forwarder will ask you for the following information in order to quote accurately for their services. The cost will vary depending on the date of the shipment.
If they are managing customs clearance on your behalf, they will also need the customs information outlined in the next section.
A customs agent will need the following information about your shipment, to make sure that all necessary taxes are paid and rules are followed before your goods can be accepted into the UK.
Your freight forwarder will help with information about the transportation method/dates, but you are expected to provide your EORI number, your product commodity/HS codes, and the individual values of the goods.
Your customs agent will also request a deferment authorisation letter for each shipment in advance of the goods arriving at the respective port to avoid delays.
Make sure you regularly read the guidance published on gov.uk relating to importing and exporting. Although your fulfilment partner, freight forwarder and customs agent can assist you, your goods are ultimately your responsibility. Ensure you are clued up on the requirements pertaining to your products, as some types of product (such as food and medicine) are subject to additional regulations and checks.
Useful links:
Some products will need additional paperwork and additional checks at the Border Control Point into the UK. You may need to get licences or certificates if you are importing certain goods, such as food, medicine, plants or hazardous chemicals.
The products that fall under these extra requirements are changing regularly and this will mean that you will need to check the online guidance on gov.uk in advance of each time you wish to import into the UK. You will find the latest list of industries these circumstances apply to on this page.
You will need to liaise with your supplier, freight forwarder and relevant port of entry to ensure that hard copies of any certifications are sent with your shipment.
Our understanding is that some of the new processes and requirements are going to be introduced in April and July 2021 for ‘high-risk’ food and animal-based products, to give affected companies additional time to prepare. These are detailed in the Government’s importing and exporting guide from December 2020.
We asked our contact at Sovereign Cargo bout their experience of working with ecommerce companies and the most common issues they have to guide their customers through. Here is Sovereign’s view on the most common pitfalls around importing and exporting:
“The main mistake people make when transporting goods is not giving enough information. The best thing to do is to provide as much information as possible. It’s better to give too much information than not enough.
Any missing information may cause delays and result in items being held by HMRC. This can in turn lead to additional storage charges while issues around missing information are resolved.
In addition, the customer should make sure the goods are packaged and palletised correctly – nothing should be oversized.”
When asked how the process might differ for UK/EU/RoW companies, Sovereign replied:
“At the moment the only change we are aware of is the fact we now have to arrange customs clearance and pay duty/ taxes at the UK border. I believe more will become clear once we know the goods being imported and the restrictions (if any) and charges involved. This may also cause delays if the goods are in a groupage vehicle, as it is not just the business’ goods that will need to be cleared before the truck can continue into the UK, all goods within the vehicle will need to be cleared.”
Contact Sovereign Cargo for assistance with importing your stock into the UK.
If you are looking for a UK-based fulfilment partner or storage solution for your UK operations, get in touch with Vdepot. We can support your expansion into the UK market.
You should seek independent advice outside of Vdepot’s updates on this matter. This message is Vdepot’s understanding of the new requirements but we encourage you to do your own research on how Brexit impacts your business.