The Christmas stollen also got hit
“Whoever gives his British business partners a bottle of wine or a ‚German Christstollen ‘wanted to give attention to, has rubbed its eyes over fees in the three-digit amount for shipping, customs clearance and handling of the goods ”, Ralf Schlindwein, Managing Director International of the IHK Düsseldorf, summarizes the most recent experiences with the Brexit. Overall, according to Schlindwein, the first year after Brexit demanded a lot from the companies in the Düsseldorf Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Their need for advice was correspondingly high: the website of the IHK Düsseldorf was clicked on more than 19,000 times last year, the IHK received thousands of inquiries by phone or email and the IHK has around 500 company representatives in the new regulations on goods in 2021 – and trade in services with Great Britain trained.
Although the companies with UK business in the Düsseldorf Chamber of Industry and Commerce have prepared well for Brexit, the start at the beginning of 2021 was anything but trouble-free. In particular, new bureaucratic requirements, the bottleneck in Calais / Dover and the inadequate administrative preparation on the part of British customs caused considerable delays in the German-British movement of goods, says Schlindwein.
Since imports and exports from and to Great Britain have had to be registered with EU customs for a year, the bureaucratic effort has increased significantly. In addition, the companies had to adapt their merchandise management systems and customs registration requirements. “The frustration was correspondingly great, especially among exporters with little experience in doing business outside the EU,” said Schlindwein. In addition to the additional effort and the associated cost increases in logistics, travel and residence restrictions in Great Britain as well as the increasing shortage of skilled workers, new trade barriers and local delivery bottlenecks are among the current challenges for bilateral economic relations. “The smooth exchange of goods and services between Germany and Great Britain is getting more and more out of step in the customs area, with employee mobility and trade disputes, which also create legal uncertainty and reluctance to invest,” emphasizes Schlindwein. Renegotiations on the Ireland / Northern Ireland Protocol would also be on the economic policy agenda in 2022.
The IHK Brexit Helpdesk continues to offer support for questions about doing business with Great Britain at 0211-3557-342 (Savas Poyraz) and 0211 3557-217 (Robert Butschen).
Background:
As an export market for companies in North Rhine-Westphalia, the United Kingdom has slipped from 3rd place to 10th place since 2015, the year before the Brexit referendum. Deliveries to the UK have collapsed nominally by a third. Around 1,000 companies from the Düsseldorf Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Stadt Düsseldorf and Kreis Mettmann) have regular business relationships with the United Kingdom. Around 500 companies from the United Kingdom have settled on site.
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