According to the manufacturers’ organisation, EEF, the country’s manufacturers are calling on the government to drop the ‘Max Fac’ option for potential future UK and EU customs, which has been slated as ‘naïve’ and ‘wholly unrealistic’.
Brexit
In a letter to the business secretary, Greg Clark, EEF’s chief executive, Stephen Phipson, has called on the government to stop wasting public money and precious time examining an option for ideological reasons which is unrealistic and, instead, put all its collective resources into finding a solution which is workable.
This call has come after cost estimates were released last week by HMRC to the Treasury Select Committee and Phipson’s recent visit to the Canadian Customs, where he witnessed first-hand how technology operates across the US/Canada border.
“UK manufacturers operate highly complex integrated supply chains with Europe, which rely on ‘just in time’ delivery. Think about the Dover-Calais route. When the police have to implement Operation Stack to deal with industrial action there are queues for miles that bring Kent to a standstill. If we had to put every lorry through even a modest customs check the tailbacks would stretch from Dover to London and Calais to Paris,” Phipson stated. “Much of the debate on Max Fac is misguided. No one doubts the technology exists: it is in place in many locations around the world. The issue is whether it is good enough to provide a frictionless border and can be implemented quickly enough to be ready for December 2020. I think that the answer to this is an overwhelming no. It may have some long term benefits, but suggesting Max Fac is a solution to our immediate problems is a non-starter.
“I have been to the US and Canada border and the reality is that most Canadian SME businesses can’t easily access the Max Fac arrangements. Whilst some do qualify for a streamlined process, the majority are still subject to the full customs check. The Canadian process is particularly efficient and well managed, but the reality is that this is time consuming and at busy times often has long delays. Apply that to Dover and the consequences are horrendous.
“We recognise government has a difficult job and it is not for us to tell government what the new arrangements must be — that is a political decision. But that political decision has economic consequences for thousands of British businesses and real financial implications for the millions of people who work for them and the entire country who rely on their products. We have an absolute responsibility to highlight fundamental flaws in one of the options that still remains on under serious consideration. I hope that the government now recognises that one of these options is simply not credible. We need to put all of our resources into developing a workable solution, and quickly.”