A new report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) claimed that the number of customs declarations made by traders which HM Revenue & Customs must process could increase five-fold to 255 million after the UK leaves the European Union. John Newcomb, Chief Executive of the Builders Merchants’ Federation (BMF) comments:
“We welcome the Public Accounts Committee highlighting the very severe concerns business has about the ability of our Customs’ system to deliver in a post-Brexit environment.
“We agree that a failure to sort out the Customs Declaration Service in time would be catastrophic for the building materials industry. We have been warning politicians in all parties about non-tariff barriers and customs’ arrangements.”
“Builders’ merchants are already facing significant material price rises due to currency fluctuations and, from our engagement with government so far, we have concerns that proper consideration is not being given to other obstacles that may hamper trade.
“For essential building material supplies, such as timber, a failure from the Government to deliver a viable customs system could mean very severe delays, extra costs, administrative burdens, and shortages that threaten the building of new homes that we so desperately needed.”
