Press review: Brexit, D+15

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Press review: Brexit, D+15

STEF in the media

01/18/21

About fifteen days after customs formalities were re-established between Europe and the United Kingdom, the first feedback is pouring in. How did the transition go? How were our clients supported?

Preparation, preparation, preparation

The concerns of the agro-food industry were numerous, a few days before 1 January 2021. However, it must be said that the difficulties anticipated by exporters did not prevent the smooth running of transit between Europe and England, despite the return of additional administrative formalities. The Brexit had been at the centre of our international teams' concerns for months, and had been carefully prepared to ensure deliveries under the best possible conditions, whatever happens. Thanks to our customs clearance partners, experts in the new smart border arrangements, delays remained anecdotal and our customers' products arrived in the UK.

For more information, see the article of La Croix on carriers versus Brexit

Accompanying our clients in this transition as well as possible

Preparing customs clearance formalities, setting up dedicated areas in our warehouses, checking the conformity of the pallets... We have anticipated as well as possible to prevent potential difficulties with this new organisation, going so far as to invest in new tools to carry out the handling operations necessary for shipment. For example, the United Kingdom now requires ISPM15 standard pallets (treated against bacteria and insects), which are not used in the European Union, meaning that most of our customers have to renew their stocks. For those of you who could not anticipate, we even had a stock of pallets and a robot to enable us to repackage the parcels in a minimum amount of time.

To find out more, watch the France 2 report produced in our warehouse in Vire, Normandy

Maintaining the supply of seafood products

Our customers in the seafood sector are particularly concerned by the new regulations, with imports of sea products constituting a large part of our business with the UK. We have therefore been preparing without delay to master the new phytosanitary procedures and reduce the time taken to transport goods in order to preserve the competitiveness of our customers internationally. Through our Boulogne sur Mer hub, recently extended thanks to the Norfrigo platform in Dunkirk, and the creation of a SIVEP within our premises in the port of Boulogne, we have been able to work with the authorities to facilitate and speed up veterinary and customs controls for seafood products coming from Scotland and Iceland.

To find out more, read the article in Produits de la Mer on our major challenges for 2021

New partners to make life easier

We are now using a new Registered Customs Representative (RCR) partner, present in France and the UK, to help you with your new procedures. If you wish, you can delegate your customs formalities to us with complete peace of mind, for you and your customers, and thus save precious time. Our client Savencia, present in the UK, was able to benefit from this service: 'Thanks to the teams at STEF Vire and their partner, the customs formalities were restored without a hitch, and our products were delivered on time in the early hours of 2021', according to Christophe Sire, General Manager Savencia FD UK.

Your usual sales contact is at your disposal to discuss with you all the solutions we can put in place to facilitate your imports and exports.

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