Maurice Greig (Maurice Greig) may have anticipated a hard-won break for Christmas. He struggled with the post-Brexit bureaucracy in 2021 and now needs his tailor-made gentleman accessories Export to the European Union.

But on the contrary, the 74-year-old Greig & Greig Partnership owner gave up at least part of the holiday in order to carefully study the technical guidance of the British government’s imminent implementation of new border controls on imports from the European Union.

Beginning in January, British importers must complete customs declarations in real time; notify the relevant animal and plant products authorities in advance; and be able to prove that their imports from the EU meet the conditions for duty-free entry into the UK.

“It will surprise me,” Greg said in the storage room of his boutique in London, filled with expensive handmade leather gloves, belts and samples of delicately processed Italian umbrellas. “But I was just a small business at the time, and I had no one else to help.”

Business group Already warned New import control measures that are postponed for a year to keep trade open will put considerable new pressure on small businesses in 2022, as they will continue to adjust to accommodate trade outside the EU single market.

Greig & Greig is one of thousands of micro-enterprises warned by the Small Business Federation trade organization. After a membership survey found that only a quarter of the companies were ready, they warned that they were not fully prepared for the new inspections .

A survey by the Board of Directors, whose members usually represent the bosses of large corporations, found that one-third of people were “not prepared at all” to deal with these changes.

Business groups and officials admit that they cannot accurately predict how these changes will affect import flows from the EU. 2020 Take up It accounts for 50% of all imports in the UK and is worth 300 billion pounds.

Senior government official in charge of the border Tell members of parliament In November, companies are being contacted regarding these changes, including on the other side of the strait, and EU transporters and exporters also need to be prepared.

The biggest concern about possible disruption comes from requiring trucks entering the UK to obtain an authorization code from the UK trucking service or GVMS before boarding the ferry.

To get the code, their paperwork must be in order. From January 1st, this means that customs declarations and tariff payment can no longer be delayed up to 175 days, and animal and plant products must be pre-registered in the UK. Imported products, animals, food and feed systems (IPAFFS).

Jim Harra, the permanent secretary of HM Revenue & Customs, told MPs on the Public Accounts Committee that there is “no doubt” that some EU truck drivers will be turned away because of the new system, but he is “confident” that they will adapt soon.

Starting in July, food importers will also require their products to be accompanied by a health certificate signed by an EU veterinarian. If they are selected at the UK border control point, they are ready to undergo random inspections.

Harra stated that the government’s confidence is based on the fact that transporters have adapted to a similar French advance declaration system in 2021, when they predicted a reasonable worst-case scenario for the trunks of 7,000 trucks. Failed to achieve.

Shane Brennan, chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, said that the requirement to collect customs and IPAFFS declarations, usually within a tight time frame, could allow many EU transporters to “catch up” in the first few months of 2022.

HMRC stated that it has sent 14,000 letters to EU transporters every month to prepare them for changes. However, the EU transport group told the Financial Times that they expected delays because they were unable to pre-test the GVMS system. HMRC stated that it is “proving on-site” the system with selected organizations.

Artur Kalisiak from TLP, which represents a large Polish transportation company, said that although it is sending out a notice of the British government webinar to its members, 90 of the 36,000 transportation companies in Poland are small-scale transportation companies with 10 or fewer vehicles. Operator.

“We get information and reminders… We pass this information to our members,” he said. “So our company knows this. The level of knowledge of other companies is a different question.”

As one of the largest transportation groups in Eastern Europe, Waberer’s is even more pessimistic, complaining that it cannot pre-test the GVMS system before the January 1 launch date.

“We will definitely have a deadlock because we don’t know whether the British system can handle the claims that flooded them,” a spokesperson said. “A lot of ignorant drivers will be stopped at the transfer station.”

In addition to the new border controls, British companies that trade with the EU also need to prove that their goods are eligible for duty-free import into the UK.

According to the so-called “rules of origin” in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, 50% of goods must usually be manufactured in the UK to be eligible for duty-free export to the EU. For EU goods exported to the UK, the reverse is also true.

In 2021, exporters from both sides have been granted a one-year grace period, reducing the required documents, but starting from 2022, companies on both sides of the Taiwan Strait will need to provide documentary proof to prove that their goods meet the requirements when the customs authorities raise questions .

In December of last year, HMRC told British traders that if they fail to provide a “supplier declaration” for their goods, they may pay fines or be prohibited from using preferential tariff rates in the future.

Trade group Minister has been warned For small businesses, the rules of origin process can be confusing and time-consuming, and many people do not fully understand these requirements.

Daniel Pettitt, managing director of Heaven Scent Incense, based in Wiltshire, said he is working hard to deal with the new rules, and the company uses raw materials from all over the world to produce soaps and candles.

“We started to require suppliers to declare, and we knew that our products did meet the requirements,” he said, but admitted that he was not sure where to submit the information to prove this when exporting to the EU.

He added that although the government sends a lot of e-mails about upcoming changes, the online guide is difficult to use. “It’s like falling into a rabbit hole. You click one link after another to visit a certain website. You just got lost,” he said.

Tanya Marriott, the owner of SoleLution, an independent shoe store in Bristol that imports shoes from the EU, said that if there is a tariff dispute with EU suppliers, the company is still working to determine its legal position.

“As a small business, we are trying to find a way out. I tried to investigate through the HMRC website. I think I am no stranger to all of this, but this is not explained in layman terms,” ??she added.

Back in London, Greig, an importer of gentlemen’s accessories, is still working to solve this year’s problems, including imposing wrong tariffs on goods “originating” from the United Kingdom and the European Union.

“It will be very complicated,” he said of importing samples from the European Union, “because I’m just a micro-business. I don’t yet know what the rules will be after January 1, but there is no doubt that it will not be simple. “