'Urgent action' needed as Brexit leads to extra costs and hold-ups for West Midlands firms

Brexit teething troubles are bringing pain to firm of all sizes, according to leaders in our region.

Chambers of commerce in the region says their members' experiences are in line with a report by the Public Accounts Committee on how UK trade with the EU has been knocked by Brexit.

Shropshire business leaders say "urgent action" is needed to make future trade with Europe easier.

The public spending watchdog found that while it was difficult to untangle how much of the hit to trade since the end of the Brexit transition on December 31 2020 has been caused by the pandemic and how much by Brexit, it was "clear that EU exit has had an impact".

It said that far from freeing up firms to boost productivity and contribution to the economy, the "only detectable impact" of Brexit so far has been to increase the burdens on businesses.

Shropshire Chamber of Commerce says that more than half of the exporters surveyed by the British Chambers of Commerce at the end of last year reported ongoing delays and difficulties in trading with the European Union.

Ruth Ross, Shropshire Chamber’s director of business, said it was clear that urgent action was needed.

“Over the past few days we have seen pictures of huge lorry queues at Dover, which appear to be largely caused by the complex and confusing system for exporting food products across the Channel

“It seems that Governments on either side of the water are interpreting the post-Brexit trade arrangements differently – leaving innocent businesses caught in the middle.

“The Chamber network is hearing stories of French customs officials requiring a ‘wet’ signature on paperwork for exports of animal and plant products, but much of the documentation is produced digitally.”

She added: “We support the UK Government’s ambition to massively increase the number of firms exporting, but this can only happen if we free up the flow of goods and services into our largest and nearest overseas market.

“Currently, the way the trade agreement is being interpreted in 27 different EU countries is a major headache for many Shropshire companies – especially smaller firms without the cash reserves to set up their own new EU-based arrangements.”

Shropshire Chamber says it has seen a big increase in the number of local businesses seeking help to navigate the complexities of international trade, through its Chamber Customs service.

The Black Country Chamber of Commerce's chief executive Corin Crane said: "Those businesses that export or import are really struggling.

"They are experiencing delays at ports, difficulties with logistics within the Uk and massive gaps in their supply chain."

He said that in the Black Country food and drink businesses exporting to Europe had been particularly hard hit.

"It is getting very complicated to export," he added.

Mr Crane said the at the chamber was running round tables with businesses to find out what support was needed and its team of five international trade advisors was working with businesses to support them through the process.

"It is a real worry that there is no short-term solution to the problems being experienced. A lot of local exporters are finding it really difficult to find agents in Europe that are willing to take UK customers on board. Some are looking to set up small businesses in Ireland and other parts of Europe so that they have a European operation to ease the problems," he explained.

Professor Alex de Ruyter, director of the Centre for Brexit Studies at Birmingham City University has suggested the report findings should drive the Labour Party to stand up and call for the UK to rejoin the Single Market and Customs Union.

“For Labour to state “Make Brexit Work” is disingenuous – you cannot “make” Brexit work and Labour know this. It has already cost the UK economy billions – £66bn estimated between 2016 and 2019 – and continues to cost businesses and consumers every day, with every border check and every customs consignment that is filed.

“Little wonder the Government has delayed the introduction of import checks on inward goods from the EU. Should these be imposed on the 30 per cent of our food that we import from the EU then consumers really will notice shortages on the supermarket shelves as produce is held up at Calais and Dover," he said.

The Public Accounts Committee says the Government had "much more work" to do to ease the administration and costs woes suffered by firms.

It also warned over the potential for lengthy border delays and lorry queues once passenger numbers return to normal as expected later this year, given that new border arrangements have not yet been tested at levels seen before the pandemic struck.

The committee said this could be compounded by further checks at ports, such as Dover, under the EU's new Entry and Exit system.