TruckandTrackSummer2020

Truck and Track Summer 2020 www.truckandtrack.com 40 TELEMATICS While the topic of Brexit has taken somewhat of a backseat over recent months with the impact of Covid-19, we remain in the period of transition as the formal trade deal is yet to be agreed upon. As thedate for potentiallyextending the transitionperiod approaches on the 30th June ahead of the final ‘deal or no deal’ deadline on the 31st December, it’s already clear that customs declarations will apply to all imports from the EU, causing delays to already busy ports and stretched supply chains. For those industries that rely on just-in-time (JIT) distribution such as pharmaceutical, perishable goods, manufacturing, spare parts and low value high volume ecommerce, it’s imperative to get goods through customs clearance without delays and file the declarations required with ease. So, instead of completing declarations at the border and adding delays to what is an already busy and chaotic environment – what if there was a way to complete customs declarations inland at your own facility? Moving the border inland With an ETSF (External Temporary Storage Facility) located at your own business’ site, away from the port, the entire customs process can be significantly accelerated. Your goods arriving into the UK can be taken toyour site (e.g. abusiness’ premises or distributioncentre), where the customs formalities can be managed electronically. The customs border is effectively moved to your own premises, so customs declarations can be pre-lodged ahead of the goods arriving. This enables the site to operate as if it is the Customs Frontier from a HMRC and Border Force perspective, so long as it is running an approved ETSF solution. A haulage or courier company with perhaps 1000 different consignments on one truck doesn’t want to have to fill out that number of declarations in a short period of time when leaving Europe and before arriving at a UK port. With an ETSF, they can create more time and stay ahead of the game by filling out the declarations at the end destination in advance, and therefore not delay the physical movement of the goods en-route with queues, inspections and processing at the border. Another solution which can augment the ETSF setup is having an inventory system that is designed to group goods at truck level, instead of typical systems today that are designed for flight or vessel-based arrival. With a truck-based system, once a vehicle physically arrives at your site, its arrival triggers the clearance of all it’s consignments so they can be unloaded and handled. An ETSF also gives electronic visibility and audit records to HMRC and Border Force, so if they do want to put a hold on any consignment the site operator knows immediately which goods are on hold awaiting paperwork or physical inspection – this can also be conducted at the operator’s site. Taking back control Ports such as Dover are busy enough at this time, add to that the need for additional complex clearance processes come the end of Taking back control of