Relaxed import documentation rules from the EU to change

On the 31st December 2020 the UK left the European Union. The UK actually departed a year earlier, but a 12-month transition period allowed the free-flow of trade and services to continue unhindered.

At the eleventh hour a Trade and Continuity Agreement (T&CA) was negotiated and agreed. This agreement allowed trade to continue between the UK (Northern Ireland remains within the Single Market and Customs Union) and the remaining 27 countries that make up the European Union. From the 1st Jan 2021 there would be tariff and quota free trade subject to the pre-negotiated agreement.

So, you might be thinking ‘well none of this is new, we know all of this’. But for the unprepared there’s more disruption to come – and plenty of it!

New rules regarding documentation

While the EU from the Jan 1st outset have strictly applied all the rules regarding documentation, registration and declaration for goods heading into the single market and customs union. The same cannot be said of the UK. The UK government have taken a more relaxed approach to allow importers to the UK ‘time to find their feet’. But from July (April, for sanitary and phytosanitary imports) all that is all set to change.

(Stop-press 11th March 2021; the UK government have announced a further delay of six months to implementing full import checks to help with business recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic).

For those who rely on spill control products being imported from the EU, any trader making imports from July (Stop-press 11th March 2021 will now be moved back by further six months) will have to make their full customs declarations on entering the UK, rather than submitting forms at a later date. In addition, imports will have to enter the UK at designated border control posts, currently there are only 36 of these. Any shipments without the correct paperwork will mean the shipment cannot carry on to the final destination - and that means delays!

All this adds more paperwork, delays, extra cost and uncertainty. But fortunately, there is a neat solution to avoid all this additional cost and delays – simply buy your meltblown spill control from a manufacturer based in the UK. And Liquid Safety Solutions by FyterTech Nonwovens Ltd. is just that.

Avoid import delays and additional costs on meltblown absorbent spill control with FyterTech Nonwovens

Liquid Safety Solutions by FyterTech Nonwovens is a global business and comprises of three distinct divisions: Spill Control, Filtration and Health & Hygiene. You might already be familiar with our Lubetech brand of absorbents and spill control products which were supplied to you under our previous name of NPS.

Our meltblown manufacturing and spill control warehousing facility is based in Greater Manchester. And unlike some others who might claim that they are UK manufacturers, we do actually have a meltblown manufacturing line, we don’t just import product from further afield and then re-package it – we actually manufacture it.

When you choose FyterTech Nonwovens Ltd. to manufacture your meltblown spill control, at a stroke, you remove any delays due to importing, you remove any currency fluctuation costs. Perhaps most importantly of all, you can reassure your customers that any orders placed will be fulfilled as contracted. Without you having to make excuses or face late delivery penalties.

For those who source their meltblown spill control from further afield and think that it’s business as usual, there are repercussions from the UK leaving the EU. Existing trade deals with other countries are not guaranteed to be rolled over (although it seems the current Secretary of State for International Trade, Lizz Truss has had some success with this). In short, those who have supply chains that are shorter and less complex are now at a significant advantage, even if the purchasing costs might be slightly increased. 

After the recent COVID-19 global scrabble for PPE and the switching of many meltblown lines to manufacturing filtration media for masks, it has become clear that dependence on far-off manufacturing is becoming a strategy that is not without risk. Even the most price conscious will no doubt be thinking surely its better to have some of our products made closer to home.

So, in conclusion while it might be tempting to try and get cheaper priced goods from overseas, remember this – it’s always better to under-promise and over-deliver. If you can’t fulfil an order, there’s always the risk a competitor who does have stock could jump in and take your place! And if that competitor buys their meltblown spill control from a more reliable source that’s closer to home, you could struggle to win that customer back when you do eventually get delivery of your delayed imports! 

The saying goes a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush – and now is a good time to have meltblown absorbents much closer to hand from a UK manufacturer.