Bernie Hart, Vice-President of Sales for Livingston International’s Global Trade Management group and Strategic Accounts. Article from Global Trade magazine.
Companies involved in importing and/or exporting goods through the United Kingdom will want to keep a close eye on the country’s customs clearance processes, which may be entering a period of temporary limbo. The country is currently undergoing a major transformation of its import and export tracking system, CHIEF (Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight), that is likely to have a profound effect on anyone moving goods through the country.
Those who have dealt with CHIEF likely know that what was once a cutting edge solution for goods management and customs processing has now run its course, even as it continues to communicate with almost 30 other systems. In response, the UK’s Customs and Revenue department has been working toward the development of a new processing system, dubbed the Customs Declaration Services (CDS) program, to track imports, exports and their respective values—a move precipitated by a need to incorporate specific requirements for EU goods.
Initially, CDS was slated for launch in the Fall of 2017 to ensure it met its requirements for the EU. However, the recent Brexit vote, which demanded that the government begin the process of exiting the EU, is likely to alter those timelines as CDS no longer needs to accommodate EU requirements in full.