Tudor Price on new import regulations

Tudor Price of the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce discusses the impact of new import regulations. For the full story, see KentOnline.co.uk.

Transcript

00:00 So this has actually been a long time coming.

00:01 So this is called the Border Target Operating Model,

00:04 BOTOM for short, lovely acronym.

00:07 It's been around for-- it's been in the offering

00:09 for about four years.

00:10 So really, this is all part of Brexit.

00:13 So for a long time, UK exporters have

00:15 had all of their products checked as they move across

00:19 into Europe, so checking for biosecurity, disease,

00:24 and all that sort of thing.

00:26 This has been delayed and delayed and delayed.

00:28 It's finally coming into effect now on the UK side.

00:31 So those that are importing product,

00:33 their products now are subject to paperwork and potential

00:37 checks.

00:39 Now, there's two problems here.

00:41 One is that there is a cost that's been attached to this.

00:46 Depending on the consignment and the nature of the consignment,

00:49 it can be up to 145 pounds per consignment,

00:52 which if you're a large multinational,

00:54 like supermarkets and stuff, that's actually fine.

00:56 You can carry that cost.

00:58 But if you're a small microbusiness,

01:00 independent of which we have plenty here in Cairns

01:02 and Medway, it's going to hurt.

01:04 It's going to cut into your profit margins.

01:06 And so either you absorb that profit,

01:08 or you're going to have to pass it on.