THE British International Freight Association (BIFA) has expressed surprise and annoyance that Whitehall plans to spend GBP8 million (US$10.4 million) in customs training and automation to cope with extra demand for customs brokerage services in the event that Britain leaves the EU without a deal in March 2019.
'We now need the government to provide us with much greater detail on the nature of this investment,' said BIFA director general Robert Keen. 'How to access the funding. How long the funding will be available. What it will cover and who qualifies.'
Mr Keen explained that BIFA has had many meetings with both HM Treasury and HMRC in which the association highlighted its concerns regarding the capability of the Customs brokerage sector to increase capacity.
'We have explained that the sector already faces a massive shortage of staff of suitable quality. We have emphasised that it could take up to a year to train staff to be fully conversant to prepare a range of basic customs declarations, even if there was a sufficient number of trainers to train those staff, as well as relevant courses for them to attend.
'The impending introduction of the Customs Declaration Service will only compound the problem as the sector would be retraining staff to move from the current system (CHIEF) to CDS, as well as potential new entrants that would be needed to process entries in the event of no trade deal being agreed by March 2019,' Mr Keen said.
'We now need the government to provide us with much greater detail on the nature of this investment,' said BIFA director general Robert Keen. 'How to access the funding. How long the funding will be available. What it will cover and who qualifies.'
Mr Keen explained that BIFA has had many meetings with both HM Treasury and HMRC in which the association highlighted its concerns regarding the capability of the Customs brokerage sector to increase capacity.
'We have explained that the sector already faces a massive shortage of staff of suitable quality. We have emphasised that it could take up to a year to train staff to be fully conversant to prepare a range of basic customs declarations, even if there was a sufficient number of trainers to train those staff, as well as relevant courses for them to attend.
'The impending introduction of the Customs Declaration Service will only compound the problem as the sector would be retraining staff to move from the current system (CHIEF) to CDS, as well as potential new entrants that would be needed to process entries in the event of no trade deal being agreed by March 2019,' Mr Keen said.