UK importers are making deliberate errors on their forms to avoid Brexit border fees

The government accused importers of goods from the EU making “deliberate”, “criminal”, and “serious” mistakes on important documentation to avoid new Border Charges after Brexit.

The government sent a warning to traders informing them that it was aware of the fact that certain traders and logistic companies had repeatedly filled out incorrect forms. It promised to take action against this behavior. This comes only weeks after the government introduced new controls for plant and animal products entering Britain from the EU.

The new rules that came into effect on April 30 require that certain products be checked at all border posts in the country. Importers are charged at different rates depending on what type of product they import.

The government claims that businesses who make “continuous or deliberate” mistakes, in order to avoid additional checks and import costs, are not adhering to the rules.

In the notice, deliberate misdeclarations of forms are a criminal offense. Port health authorities will actively look for this behaviour and take action if they find evidence.

The new border regulations categorize products as low, middle or high risk. Low-risk items require no inspection at all. Medium-risk items receive some scrutiny, and high risk goods are subject to even more scrutiny.

These checks can be lengthy and subject to delays. This can affect the shelf-life of perishable goods or cause customers to miss their delivery deadlines.

In a notice issued by the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra), it was stated that some companies declared goods to be low-risk when they were actually medium, and high-risk items were listed as medium. Importers were also not including phytosanitary certificates and export health certificates when importing meat, dairy products, and plants.

Defra also added that it is aware of importers who try to include multiple export certificates on common health entries documents when regulations only allow for one. Importers can pay up to £145 per entry document, so firms could save money.

It was reported in April that European hauliers were complaining about the lack clarity of the government’s billing system. They claimed it would increase transportation costs by as much as 60%. The checks began at the end April and have been plagued by issues due to IT system failures.