Brexit update

Supporting your business
Brexit update

Supporting your business

Latest update: 21st June 2021 - Shipping small orders to the EU

Following the announcement that the EU & UK reached a trade agreement on 24th December, further details have emerged that affect the export of goods from the UK to EU countries based on their Country of Origin.

Our aim remains to minimise any disruption and continue to deliver our service to the highest possible standards.

Please bear with us as there is still a lack of true clarity.


Overview

What we now know:

  • There may be short term delays on orders being processed at the ports
  • New documentation will be required on goods being imported into the UK and exported to Ireland and other EU countries
  • The Country of Origin will impact the rate of duty that may be applicable on goods exported from the UK to EU customers
  • Customs declarations will be required on all exports to EU customers –as previously explained, we'll be providing this information to DPD who will be doing this on our behalf

Our 2021 Price Lists reflect there being no duty and are available on our website in the usual way.


Country of origin

We’re working with the individual brands and seeking clarity from them and official sources, such as the Government website, as well as working with our carriers on how best we can service our EU customers.

We’ll continue to dispatch orders to EU customers and, in the short term, cover any duty and custom declaration charges. However, this is unlikely to be maintained in the longer term.


Deliveries to the EU, ROI and NI

As advised by DPD, services to EU countries, including ROI are resuming. The latest information can be found here

As you’ll be aware, you’ll need to provide additional information for deliveries outside of the UK.

  • You'll be asked for the following contact information about the receiver of the goods as part of your order process: contact name, email address and contact telephone number.
  • The information is required so that DPD can contact the receiver to process a Mandate of Empowerment which allows the goods to be processed through customs. It needs to be completed even if the receiver of the delivery is your own business, and it is important that the information is accurate.
  • DPD will contact the receiver of goods directly using the information provided to agree the Mandate of Empowerment. Don't worry, this only needs to happen once per receiver address, so if you receive goods frequently from us, you'll just have to do this the first time a delivery is sent. If you or the receiver aren't able to give DPD the Mandate of Empowerment, then the order will be returned to us at PenCarrie.
  • We're set up to provide all the necessary information relating to commodity codes and country of origin.
  • It’s now clear that a Customs Declaration will be required and it’s likely that each order will attract a £2 customs clearance fee. PenCarrie will cover this cost in the short term to minimise disruption to deliveries to your customers and we’ll notify you when this charge is going to be passed on to you.
  • Duty based on Country of Origin still needs to be clarified brand by brand, product by product and we’ll be in touch once we have clarity.

Shipping small orders to the EU

As a consequence of a change in customs rules, from the 1st July, we’re unfortunately unable to supply any orders under £135 GBP (€150 EUR) to certain EU destinations.

Which countries are affected?

  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Sweden

DPD are reviewing their network, so affected countries are subject to change in the future and, if this happens, we’ll update you as soon as possible.

Please note that the following destinations are unaffected and there is no change to process: Republic of Ireland, Netherlands, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Austria.

Why have these changes happened?

  • Due to a change in customs rules, lower value orders may only be cleared by customs in the country in which they’re being delivered.
  • As DPD don’t have clearance hubs in these countries, we’re unable to get orders under £135 GBP (€150 EUR) delivered.


Orders over this amount are unaffected and may be placed as normal. Please note, this amount excludes delivery costs.

Remember that you can reserve stock online for up to 14 days and build your order to the required value of £135 GBP (€150 EUR).

The last day that we’re able to ship an order under £135 GBP (€150 EUR) will be Monday 28th June 2021.


Invoicing customers in Ireland and EU

We'll continue to raise invoices in £’s sterling in the usual way.

If it's still required, each evening, we’ll be electronically providing the details to DPD of what’s being shipped with the appropriate commodity codes.

DPD will then electronically put those goods for clearance through customs, enabling them to be delivered to you, in theory, with no delay.


Currency

Over recent months, whilst there have been fluctuations between the GBP, EUR and the USD, they’ve been relatively stable and now hopefully following the agreement there will be some long-term stability. However, there’s always the risk of commodity prices, production costs and shipping costs impacting prices and Q1 2021 is no exception.

We should all be aware of this risk:

  1. When issuing quotes
  2. Being prepared to change prices at relatively short notice

Quotes

Please note: any quotes which are currently issued will only be valid for 30 days unless otherwise stated.

We cannot account for any adverse currency swings, so please take care in the validity of any quotes which you are issuing. We cannot hold prices beyond any change dates that we’re given.

Please be aware of this when issuing quotes to your customers.


Summary

It’s very good news that there is an agreement allowing duty and tariff free trade to continue.

However, we still await further details on what documentation may be required for exports to the EU.

If there are any more information or changes to the current processes in the coming weeks, we’ll ensure to keep you updated.

We hope you continue to remain safe and well.