tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10409698560660444922024-03-05T08:45:10.793+00:00Logistics SimplifiedAndy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.comBlogger120125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-6585988438700223392020-10-12T14:36:00.002+01:002020-10-12T15:48:05.077+01:00A straight-talking and practical guide to BREXIT preparations – 1st October 2020<p><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75)" style="font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 2rem;">It's now only 80 days before we leave the European Customs Union.</span></p><div class="ember-view" id="ember913" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="reader-article-content" dir="ltr" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 2rem; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">From all of the conversations we're having with importers, exporters and the industry communications we're seeing, we're getting the very strong feeling that UK importers and exporters (particularly the small-medium sized customers or SMEs) aren't prepared for BREXIT. It could be because they''re distracted by COVID-19 or that they are hoping for the elusive "deal" to be agreed, but they need to make certain preparations regardless (deal or no deal) as we'll have a Customs border from 1-Jan as will the EU.</p><p style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 2rem; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Because we become so involved with importers and exporters in the course of our Freight Reviews, Freight Management and Customs Compliance work, and have over the last 11 years, we know that many companies find the freight and Customs acronyms, so-called "logistics speak" to be a big turnoff, and they often expect their freight forwarder to "sort it out" for them and no doubt many will be thinking something similar now.</p><p style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 2rem; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Thing is, the BREXIT changes have wider impacts than freight forwarding, there are other areas which will be impacted, and there are actions only you, the importer or exporter can take, but not many companies have fully digested this, and it's understandable.</p><p style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 2rem; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So we thought, let's take a helicopter view of the post-BREXIT landscape, map out everything which will be affected, Customs, freight, pricing, delivery times and translate it into plain English (as much as is possible) and then share it with our customers, some of whom do use us to manage their EU imports/exports (although that's not been our main focus, most appoint us to review and then manage their non-EU traffic eg imports from Asia/US as this has hitherto been more complicated and offers more opportunity to reduce cost and improve performance).</p><p style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 2rem; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Our pdf guide is free to download from the homepage of our website, summarizes the BREXIT situation as it is today and is split into 2 sections, so importers and exporters can use the bespoke guidance. We've had some very positive feedback from our customers since we sent out the guide and we also had our bulletin featured by the UK's leading daily logistics publication, Lloyds Loading List on 9th October who were very interested in what we'd done.</p><p style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 2rem; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/index.php">BREXIT Preparation Guide</a><br /></p><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75)" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 2rem;">So that's it really, it may not be perfect but I am confident it will help you cut through the confusion and help you to protect your business, it may even give you a competitive advantage, pretty vital in these challenging times!</span><p style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 2rem; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />Kind Regards</p><p style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 2rem; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /></p><p style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 2rem; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Andy Cliff</p><div class="slate-resizable-image-embed slate-image-embed__resize-full-width" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 2rem; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; 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border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 600; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="display-flex ivm-view-attr__img-wrapper ivm-view-attr__img-wrapper--use-img-tag ember-view" id="ember927" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="presence-entity presence-entity--size-3 ember-view" id="ember1151" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; height: 48px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 48px;"><img alt="Andy Cliff" class="ivm-view-attr__img--centered EntityPhoto-circle-3 presence-entity__image EntityPhoto-circle-3 lazy-image ember-view" id="ember1152" loading="lazy" src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D03AQFJjf3ThuXmDA/profile-displayphoto-shrink_100_100/0?e=1608163200&v=beta&t=_8izqz51yKIhiI18qF5Ry80bNozcvGi8jBJda2GiSPc" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: content-box; background-color: var(--color-background-container); background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: initial; background-size: cover; border-radius: 49.9%; border: 2px solid transparent; box-shadow: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: 48px; margin: 0px; max-height: 100%; max-width: 100%; object-fit: cover; object-position: center center; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 48px;" title="Andy Cliff" /></div><div><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-34060445275029908732020-08-20T14:49:00.008+01:002020-08-20T14:56:53.204+01:00State Of The Nation - Latest news on all things logistics in the UK including BREXIT and COVID-19<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "source serif pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Anyone working in (or using) international logistics since March, be they importers, exporters, freight forwarders, airlines or container shipping lines will agree it’s been a really tough time. Rates spiraling, flight schedules evaporating (think USA and China), stretched operations due to furlough, everyone under pressure. From our side, we’ve been in the trenches working alongside them, keeping the shipments moving for our UK customers, it’s been all hands to the pumps. Having worked in freight forwarding operations for 10 years at the start of my career, I have truly felt for the staff on the front line (I even suggested to Lloyds Loading List Global Freight Awards that we have an award for outstanding commitment by an operations person during the pandemic).</span></p><div class="slate-resizable-image-embed slate-image-embed__resize-full-width" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "source serif pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><img alt="No alt text provided for this image" data-li-src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQFrQ63DlLNuow/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0?e=1603324800&v=beta&t=_4dSts036Qfm12RbJ_on1NqJK2Febd4EsNo3WX6T1QU" data-media-urn="" src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQFrQ63DlLNuow/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0?e=1603324800&v=beta&t=_4dSts036Qfm12RbJ_on1NqJK2Febd4EsNo3WX6T1QU" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 744px;" /></span></div><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "source serif pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">We’re now in a more stable period (actually the calm before the storm) as we move into very busy period from September, when the logistics infrastructure is going to be stretched again, on imports in particular, as air freight space tightens (think i-Phone 12, Sony Playstation 5 and rising PPE demand as face coverings become mandatory in workplaces and other settings across Europe).</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "source serif pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">So in July, we decided it was time to give our website a complete refresh. Every single page has been updated, we’ve also added our latest customer testimonials and so we’re ready, willing and able to create new success stories for customers who are keen take action and lower their freight costs without risking delivery performance.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/index.php"><span>Straightforward Consultancy - New Website</span></a><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "source serif pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">We also provide expert advice on all matters logistics and Customs which will be really valuable as we move into what will surely be a very challenging economic landscape for many UK businesses, and that’s before we even mention the dreaded BREXIT word, which looks to be going to the wire. According to Radio 4 this morning, David Frost, our chief negotiator says that significant gaps between EU and UK teams still remain, which is a major concern, given the lack of preparedness of UK companies for a hard BREXIT and the lack of support for SME traders only experienced in intra-EU trade (withdrawal of Transitional Simplified Procedures being a prime example).</span></p><div class="slate-resizable-image-embed slate-image-embed__resize-full-width" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "source serif pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><img alt="No alt text provided for this image" data-li-src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQGvaj43nha5sw/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/0?e=1603324800&v=beta&t=a_wN8kLT9nMIMQ59t2gWbaGL_fr90gUjzB8iR3oSdE0" data-media-urn="" src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQGvaj43nha5sw/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/0?e=1603324800&v=beta&t=a_wN8kLT9nMIMQ59t2gWbaGL_fr90gUjzB8iR3oSdE0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 744px;" /></span></div><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "source serif pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">In many ways, the current economic environment reminds me of the year we launched SCL (2010), when we were facing the global financial crisis, and we were able to help many customers to get a real grip on their costs and make considerable savings at exactly the right moment. The only difference now is that this is far worse, demand is very weak and logistics costs for many have risen because of capacity issues, especially from the US and China, many customers have just lost all control of their costs in their desire to just take delivery.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "source serif pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">So, it really is time to act, there's no time to waste. Please do drop me a line or call me and I’d be happy to see if we can help you. We may both learn something:)</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "source serif pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Kind Regards</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "source serif pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "source serif pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin: 3.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Andy Cliff<br /></span><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStlsE2inT7CtaI6q_1cgdz9WGC7gEV9uG8GPoeVe_MnvveXXckYL-2NnWpSYPGllcHqdVsJZ8z-vk7r41wGqU-UNVWsUiACdO6EhHstngp_XUfLI-eZnI1BXTQuhYhkuljTtl_8Z4Hbrk/s500/Andy+Cliff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStlsE2inT7CtaI6q_1cgdz9WGC7gEV9uG8GPoeVe_MnvveXXckYL-2NnWpSYPGllcHqdVsJZ8z-vk7r41wGqU-UNVWsUiACdO6EhHstngp_XUfLI-eZnI1BXTQuhYhkuljTtl_8Z4Hbrk/s0/Andy+Cliff.jpg" /></a></div>Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-11499718381706656742019-10-23T14:06:00.001+01:002019-10-23T14:06:57.405+01:00UK importers and exporters - are you ready for a no-deal/hard BREXIT? Are you sure?<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Hard/No-Deal BREXIT Checklist – Straightforward Consultancy
- October 2019<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In our view, if you export to or import from the EU, there
are 3 main areas you need to focus upon to ensure you’re ready for a “no-deal” BREXIT
scenario. We have written this guidance around companies who sell on delivered
terms to their EU customers and ex works terms from their suppliers, as these
customers have the most work to do. For customers selling ex works or buying on
delivered terms, in our view, the onus for preparation should emanate from your
buyer or seller who contracts the transport, but you can still extract useful
guidance from the below as all the elements are the same.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Are
you as an exporter or importer, prepared?<br />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Is
your forwarder prepared and have they told you what they need from you?<br />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Have
you liaised with or informed your suppliers or customers?<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s useful to think through
all the steps in the logistics process from when a booking is made at origin
all the way to delivery and to do the same for the commercial transaction (from
quotation to final sale).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We’ll start with EXPORTS.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Are
you as an exporter, prepared?<br />
<br />
Incoterms 2010 will come into sharp focus in a hard-BREXIT scenario,
particularly for exporters, where many have traditionally shipped to their EU
customers on a “delivered price” basis, often neglecting to quote Incoterms on
their sales quotations or export/despatch invoices. In the past, this didn’t
matter so much for the forwarders or end customers as EU road freight is
usually fully paid by either shipper or consignee (unlike air or ocean) and no
Customs clearance was required.<br />
<br />
Your invoices will have to include a lot more detail so that a Customs
declaration can be made, both on export from the UK (as happens now with non-EU
exports) and a formal Customs entry on the EU side, whether that is in your
customer’s name (Incoterms DAP), or possibly in your name (DDP) although DDP
will be very complicated due to the requirement to register as an entity in the
destination country and allow Customs declarations to be made in your company’s
name. These arrangements will also have to be set up after 1<sup>st</sup>
November, as your current EORI number won’t be valid in the EU after 31-Oct.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Is
your forwarder ready?<br />
</span></u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
Many freight forwarders who specialise in EU imports/exports have existed in a
non-Customs environment since the incept of the single market in 1993. That’s
26 years, and so many of their staff won’t even recall a time when Customs
declarations were required, and in those times we were in the EEC, and most
goods of EU/UK origin would have had duty-free status provided that a “T form”
was raised so Customs entries were pretty simple. I remember, because I trained
as a Customs broker and did them for 10 years. These companies are now having
to upskill or employ staff to carry out these new processes, quite a challenge
– and a risk for customers.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Against that backdrop, we have seen that a
good deal of the bulletins/guidance issued by EU forwarders to customers vary
considerably in content and/or detail and they can sometimes demonstrate a lack
of understanding of the whole process from order to delivery which will then be
similar to a shipment from say, UK to the US. Bearing that in mind, you should urgently
engage with your forwarder so you’re confident that they: -<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">fully
understand the BREXIT related changes and the impact on you and your customers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">b)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">have
everything covered operationally <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">c)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">have
told you what they need from you operationally (in particular, invoice layout
and content)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">d)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">will
be able to provide a (door to door) service post 31-Oct and how that will
differ from today<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">e)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">are
able to provide Customs clearance facilities at destination<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Have
you liaised with your customers?<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Based on recent discussions we
have had with customers here in the North West, this seems to be an area that
few customers or forwarders have covered. So now it’s vital that you engage
with your customers in Europe to firstly discuss the terms of sale for future
deliveries, as until now, these shipments were almost as simple as UK domestic
deliveries, with a delivered price offered to the customer. So, it’s vital that
UK exporters should specify Incoterms clearly all the way through the
quotation/sales/export process so it doesn’t cause problems for your valued
customers.<span style="mso-tab-count: 7;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And if your customers buy from
you regularly, have you talked with them to explain that they may now be buying
on DAP terms, where they will be responsible for Customs clearance fees, import
duties and local taxes/VAT? You certainly should do, and this leads us onto the
role of the forwarder, who is a key stakeholder in this process. Post 31-Oct, they
will most likely (for simplicity) clear the shipment and outlay the duties/VAT for
your customer, so have they talked to you about the need for your customer to
bear the duties/VAT and has any account or payment terms been set up in advance?
If not, like many UK forwarders on imports, they may hold onto the shipment
until payment for duty/VAT has been made, adding extra days onto the delivery
time, and irritating or disappointing your valued customer. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Here is our guidance regarding
IMPORTS.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Are
you as an importer, prepared?<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Again,
Incoterms will become extremely important, so that both the<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">buyer,
seller and the forwarder are clear on who will take responsibility for any
extra costs which will now exist in a hard-BREXIT / no-deal environment. UK
importers from the EU will generally be buying on either “delivered” terms,
where the supplier organises transport to their door - or “ex-works”, where the
UK importer organises the transport, selects the freight forwarder and pays all
costs from the supplier’s factory to delivery here in the UK. However,
Incoterms may not always have been made clear in the commercial relationship
with your supplier but now it is important to be clear, as the Incoterms will
determine what plans or changes you need to make.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">b)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As
with exports, the supplier’s invoice will need to show a lot more detail so
that a Customs declaration can be made, both to facilitate export from the EU
and to <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">assist
with Customs clearance upon arrival in the UK. In time, we believe that
European forwarders will set up standard procedures per customer, as non-EU
forwarders have done for many years, saving everyone time and giving the
front-line clearance staff the information they need to declare your shipments
accurately and swiftly. But in the short term, it would be wise to ask your
supplier to provide full supplier and consignee details and commodity codes,
EORI numbers etc and your TSP registration number if you have one.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">c)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What
makes things slightly different for UK importers is that Transitional Simplified
Procedures were introduced in February, effectively meaning that your shipment
can flow through without a formal Customs declaration, with the responsibility
for a declaration being placed directly with the importer and initially allowing
them a month, and now until May 2020 to make these declarations. If you haven’t
obtained an EORI number or applied for TSP, you really should, very
straightforward, excuse the pun!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>Is your forwarder ready?</u><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
</span></u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As
with exports, many freight forwarders who specialise in EU imports/exports have
existed in a non-Customs environment since the incept of the single market in
1993. That’s 26 years, and so many of their staff won’t even recall a time when
Customs declarations were required, and in those times we were in the EEC, and
most goods of EU/UK origin would have had duty-free status provided that a “T
form” was raised so Customs entries were pretty simple. I remember, because I
trained as a Customs broker and did them for 10 years. These companies are now having
to upskill or employ staff to carry out these new processes, quite a challenge
– and a risk for you, the customer.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Against that backdrop, we have seen that a
good deal of the bulletins/guidance issued by EU forwarders to customers vary
considerably in content and/or detail and can sometimes demonstrate a lack of
understanding of the whole process from order to delivery which will then be
similar to a shipment from say, US to the UK. Bearing that in mind, you should
urgently engage with your forwarder so you’re confident that they:-<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo6; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">fully
understand the BREXIT related changes and the impact on you and your suppliers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo6; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">b)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">have
everything covered operationally<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo6; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">c)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">have
told you what they need from you and your suppliers operationally (in
particular, invoice layout and content)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo6; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">d)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">will
be able to provide a (door to door) service post 31-Oct and how that will
differ from today<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo6; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">e)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">are
able to provide Customs clearance facilities here in the UK and can ensure
their trailers do not get stuck at ports such as Dover e.g. removal of entire
vehicle to bonded facility<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo6; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">f)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">will
be prepared to handle your shipments if you have TSP authorisation, and can
offer services for later supplementary Customs declarations<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Have
you liaised with your suppliers or have they been in contact with you?<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As with our guidance on
exports, based on recent discussions we have had with customers here in the
North West, this seems to be another area where there is confusion. So, it’s
vital that you urgently engage with your suppliers in Europe to firstly clarify
the terms of sale for future deliveries, as again, these shipments were almost
as simple as UK domestic deliveries, with a delivered price offered to the you,
the customer. So, it’s vital that UK importers should define and agree clear
Incoterms with their EU suppliers so it doesn’t cause delays for you once the
shipments leave your suppliers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So, I hope you find this guidance useful, it really is
designed to help you as a customer, especially those who have never had to deal
with non-EU trade and all the complications that this can bring. There’s no
doubt that many forwarders have engaged with customers but it can sometimes be
very confusing as logistics people speak a different language and most
customers don’t have an interpreter (apart from our customers of course!). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Kind Regards<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Andy Cliff<br />
Managing Director<br /><br /> Straightforward Consultancy Ltd <br />
Email: </span><a href="mailto:andy@straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">andy@straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk</span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
Web: </span><a href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk</span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
Tel: 07934 443492<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-79092002117534673872019-09-29T17:20:00.001+01:002019-09-29T17:20:19.313+01:00Nothing ventured....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">On 4th September 2019, it was 10 years to the day since I formed Straightforward Consultancy Ltd (we abbreviate it to SCL) so does it seem like 10 years? Hard to say. I remember the first 3 years were really tough, but as they say, if it was easy, everyone would do it. I actually say to people that it wasn’t a brave and bold move on my part, and having been in continuous employment since 1978, the abrupt end to my career at DHL was certainly not part of the plan, nor was setting up my own business. It certainly was a big shock to my system, being conditioned, as all of my colleagues were, to playing their part in keeping a large company on track, the usual corporate stuff.</span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The natural reaction when it comes to an end, is to seek new employment in a similar role, and keep the money coming in to pay the bills, just as anyone would, but that didn’t work for me. It was a recession, and companies were cutting back and laying people off, so a bit like the famous business book “Who Moved My Cheese”, the cheese store had gone for good and it was time to go and find a new one.</span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The funny thing was that I was still looking for work after I formed SCL, almost like a reserve parachute, but I was faced with the ultimate dilemma in February 2010. A week or so before I actually launched the company, I was offered a highly paid job at a large logistics provider, with an office only 3 miles from home, and people said, why don’t you take it and work on SCL on the side?</span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; line-height: 3.2rem; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Having thought about it long and hard, I knew that wouldn’t work, as I’d commit myself fully to this company just as I did for DHL and Kuehne & Nagel beforehand, and the SCL business/idea would wither on the vine. So, I disregarded the advice of friends and family knowing that this would probably be my only chance to launch my own business, and on 8th March, when everything was in place, I bit the bullet, hit the phones, and started calling potential clients, making 800 phone calls in that month alone, speaking to and meeting people until we won our first client in April.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It’s fair to say that it has been tough, but when my wife Diane joined the company in 2012, that helped to spread the load, although I was always the driver, as I had the industry knowledge, and it really meant so much to me that SCL was successful, and it has been. I was also very conscious of earlier stories I’d heard of people who’d left to set up their own business, only to struggle and then give up and that was a major motivator.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">When you’re a small business, there’s so much to do, be that the core operational work for customers, or all the other stuff, such as sales, promotion and networking, invoicing, VAT returns - it goes on and on, and it often runs into weekends and evenings. But if you are really passionate about your business, and you can see that customers truly value what you do, it spurs you on, and that’s how 10 years can come around so quickly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We’ve never had ambitions for meteoric growth, so some might say that it’s been a missed opportunity, but we wanted to remain on the front-line logistics-wise, in the trenches with our customers, which can have its frustrations, but it’s our passion. We also didn't want to dilute what we had and provide outstanding service. So, despite our modest ambitions, we’ve seen continued growth, fantastic customer loyalty and glowing testimonials and I don’t think anyone can truly understand the sense of achievement and satisfaction you feel by creating a business from scratch and seeing it grow and succeed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I must of course thank all of our customers for their tremendous support and loyalty over the last 10 years and of course Diane, but I also want to thank all of the other people I’ve met or worked with on the journey, as all of these encounters can really help to guide, inform and motivate you, even if they might not seem to be beneficial at the time. So, be open to everything, learn from people, be professional and go the extra mile, it will be noticed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, would you believe it, 10 years, and still growing!</span></div>
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Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-8317662926731715102019-02-06T17:49:00.000+00:002019-02-06T17:50:15.891+00:00Finally, a ray of hope from HMRC for EU importers post-BREXIT<br />
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<span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">For months, many of
us in the logistics world have been watching the twists and turns of
Westminster politics, and becoming increasingly concerned about potential chaos
at ports like Dover who handle the lion's share of shipments being transported
from the EU, over 7000 vehicles per day (see below). Many of us have probably
been shouting at the TV over BREXIT, because we really don't think the
government or politicians have a clue about how things work (and therefore
aren't best qualified to talk about solutions to things like a post-No Deal
scenario).</span></div>
<br />
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.doverport.co.uk/about/performance/">https://www.doverport.co.uk/about/performance/</a></span></span><span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "century gothic", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I went to a very
well-attended BREXIT presentation at a major forwarder in November who gave the
audience the low down - queues around Dover could reach 80 miles - yes 80
miles, so that's clearly a catastrophe as it wouldn't just delay deliveries of
incoming shipments, it'd block the regional road infrastructure in the process,
no wonder the troops are on standby. Yes, we saw the 88 trucks doing the
exercise around Ramsgate for the Transport Minister, Chris Grayling recently
but for most of us in logistics, it seemed like window dressing to show the UK
was ready for "no deal", and it wasn't at all convincing.</span><br />
<br />
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-46775722">https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-46775722</a></span></span><span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Of course, we're in
the single market for another 50 days and today, it's a slick operation and the
key thing is that the most trucks flow through cursory checks at Dover in 2
minutes, so that's great. And if you're an importer, you'll take delivery of
your shipment from Europe a couple of days after that, so everyone's happy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">One thing the media and government seem to have
failed to realize is that many of the incoming vehicles are operated by so
called "groupage operators", which means that a truck may contain
40-60 shipments for various UK customers and in a no-deal scenario, that would
mean that each and every shipment would need to be Customs cleared as each
shipment would be treated just like a shipment from the USA or China and so
import duty and VAT would need to be paid.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Interestingly, we
have customers ourselves who import from the EU, where the goods have been held
by their Asian supplier in a Customs bonded warehouse in the Netherlands. These
goods have what's known as T1 status (they're not in Free Circulation within
the EU) and so a Customs entry is completed for that shipment and duty and VAT
is paid in the country of destination, but it delays the shipment by a day or
so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Now imagine what
would happen if every shipment had to be cleared....if just 25% of the 7000
vehicles are groupage trailers, then we're talking almost 93,000 Customs
entries per day, and because we've been in the Single Market since 1993, there
aren't enough qualified Customs brokers at road freight operators or Customs
officers to cope with this workload.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Clearly, HMRC knew it
was going to be a potential car crash on 30-Mar. And so, finally, a ray of hope
appeared yesterday in the form of a pretty low-key announcement from HMRC (who
would of course be concerned about the thousands of new Customs declarations
required should we leave the EU on 29-Mar in a No-Deal scenario) although they
claim to have written to all of 145,000 companies who import from the EU.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Here's the thing,
HMRC have recognised that a No Deal scenario would cause chaos and so they have
announced a new regime called "Transitional Simplified Procedures"
and what it basically does, is take away the need for clearances at ports like
Dover so shipments can continue to flow freely, and they'll place the onus on
importers to pay any duties and VAT the month after arrival. They'll need to
set up a direct debit to do this, sounds like a simpler version of a Customs
deferment account to me. How it'll work operationally isn't clear because of
course, the freight forwarders will need to know who is and who isn't approved
for the Transitional Simplified Procedures when one of their trucks arrives at
Dover but this will hopefully be worked out in the next 50 days...talk about
last minute!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So here's what I
recommend that you do.</span><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">1.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Step 1<br />
</span></u><span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
Check first that you have an EORI number (Economic Operator Registration &
Identification). If you're an established small-mid sized business, you will
have a VAT number, and the EORI is just an extension of that. So your VAT
number may be 123456789 but your EORI number would be GB123456789000. To
confirm if you have an EORI, enter the longer sequence into the EU database as
one string using the below link and it will tell you if that EORI is valid. You
will see that I have entered an erroneous VAT number GB123456789000 and the
result shows invalid. If it's valid, then you can apply for the Transitional
Simplified Procedures, go to step 2. If not, you need to apply for an EORI
number, and this will be worthwhile even if you don't apply for TSP as I am
seeing several road freight operators asking clients for this info in the last
month so get ahead of the curve. In section 3 below, I will provide
instructions below on how to get an EORI number.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/eos/eori_validation.jsp?Lang=en&EoriNumb=GB123456789000&Expand=true">http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/eos/eori_validation.jsp?Lang=en&EoriNumb=GB123456789000&Expand=true</a></span></span><span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><u style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Step 2 </span></u><br />
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<br />
Apply for Transitional Simplified Procedures. This is a new regime, fresh out
of the box and the website only opens tomorrow, Thursday 7th February so I
can't tell you much more than to check this link from Thursday onwards and get
your application in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hm-revenue-and-customs-simplifies-importing-from-the-eu-as-part-of-no-deal-preparation">https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hm-revenue-and-customs-simplifies-importing-from-the-eu-as-part-of-no-deal-preparation</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><u>Step 3</u></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">1.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So you don't have an EORI number? Don't panic, but
don't hang around as many companies will start realizing the implications in a
week or two as the fear factor ramps up. Here's the link to apply for an EORI
number.<br />
<br />
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://www.gov.uk/eori">https://www.gov.uk/eori</a><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;">We're
keeping a very close eye on BREXIT developments as you can imagine so I'm sure
there'll be more we can share over the next few weeks, and hopefully we won't
go over a Cliff edge pardon the pun!</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />One
last thing, we are carrying out this process for all of our existing customers,
even though we don't focus on EU road traffic and tend to be far more involved
in air and ocean traffic to/from Asia or North America - it's best to be
prepared I always think, especially right now.</span><span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If
you need any more guidance or support, just drop me a line, I'll try to help.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />Kind
Regards</span><span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Andy
Cliff</span></div>
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Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-27659102528697506002018-07-24T12:15:00.002+01:002018-07-24T14:32:04.262+01:00A perfect storm is brewing in UK logistics - and it's not BREXIT<div style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 3.2rem; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
A dramatic headline, and for good reason. For those of you who import and export, you quite understandably just want to ship your exports and take delivery of your imports in a timely and cost-effective way, and for this you will use the services of a freight forwarder (or logistics service provider as we like to say these days). The LSP does quite a lot behind the scenes to ensure your shipments move as smoothly through the various channels, be they physical (deliveries and collections, ports and airports, warehouses) or electronic (declarations made to HMRC or bookings made with shipping lines and airlines) and it all works, because LSPs live in that world and become very adept at making it happen, and hopefully keeping you as a customer, happy.</div>
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<img data-li-src="https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E12AQHdZmY8xR-3Tw/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0?e=2131920000&v=beta&t=ED_ju_8EyeeqAbtMpmy74uh9qZ6EApJTdsripJ7KarM" data-media-urn="urn:li:digitalmediaAsset:C4E12AQHdZmY8xR-3Tw" src="https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E12AQHdZmY8xR-3Tw/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0?e=2131920000&v=beta&t=ED_ju_8EyeeqAbtMpmy74uh9qZ6EApJTdsripJ7KarM" style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 744px;" /></div>
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So that's all good. So when it comes to Customs, there's a lot of engagement between LSPs and Customs on your behalf, most of it unseen and very often not fully understood. Let's take an import from the USA or China for example. The goods need to be Customs cleared at the port/airport of arrival and a declaration made to the Customs IT system (which is called CHIEF - Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight) via a software package they will use. This is what's known as a Customs entry and once processed, a calculation is made to arrive at the appropriate amount of import duty, VAT and any other duties which the importer must bear. The entry could be a simple one, where goods are destined for UK/EU clients (so called Home Use) with just one commodity code (say a hydraulic pump) but it can also go the other way, with up to 30-40 tariff headings relating to various products and different procedure codes (some goods Home Use, some goods for re-export (Inward Processing) so then it gets more complicated - but still very do-able by a seasoned Customs broker at your freight forwarder.</div>
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Why all that detail you may say? I am trying to create some context here because CHIEF is being replaced by a new IT platform, CDS (Customs Declaration Service) from August-18 (yes next month) on a phased launch. I had heard a little about CDS and understandably wanted to know more, and so I went to a seminar in Warrington in late June , along with around 100 others from the Northern logistics community to learn about CDS and how it will impact everyone involved, and more importantly, what we need to do to prepare. I should add here that Customs call freight forwarders or logistics service providers CSPs (Community Service Providers) just to confuse matters more!</div>
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The seminar was very professional but within 30 minutes, people who work in the front line, and know the current systems extremely well were clearly concerned about the breadth and depth of the proposed changes, and when a HMRC presenter said "with CDS, these changes will be quite profound" this confirmed people's concerns.</div>
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The upshot here is that this phased launch starts Aug-18 and is planned to be fully implemented by Jan-19 so the timing isn't ideal, as if we make a so called "hard BREXIT" and leave the EU without a deal in March 2019, we will have to cope with two major changes around the same time, the so called perfect storm in my title.</div>
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CDS and the new tariff will need to cope with that. Even if you disregard BREXIT, the problems many of us saw at the seminar was that despite a huge amount of work going into the project within HMRC:-</div>
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<img data-li-src="https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E12AQH10k_7OjjXXw/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0?e=2131920000&v=beta&t=S1Fw-KFuemiIzCuA96nNn-hEG6osxyim98P9MF5E6K8" data-media-urn="urn:li:digitalmediaAsset:C4E12AQH10k_7OjjXXw" src="https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E12AQH10k_7OjjXXw/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0?e=2131920000&v=beta&t=S1Fw-KFuemiIzCuA96nNn-hEG6osxyim98P9MF5E6K8" style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 744px;" /></div>
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<li style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The new system seems to be unnecessarily complicated from a declaration standpoint - for example, a Customs entry will go from 54 completion fields to around 80 (and up to 130 in some cases).</li>
<li style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It will require considerable training to take place so that the whole community is aligned and ready, and it seems so far that there has been only limited engagement with a handful of "test" freight forwarders and almost none with UK importers and exporters apart from a vague letter in March which is attached below.</li>
<li style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Customs tariff (library photo of ours shown above), which across its 3 volumes is the bible for UK import and export Customs procedures, classifications and duty rates, and has been well understood for many years will also be replaced and we still await a draft version which will be another major change to digest and incorporate into the new procedures</li>
<li style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Software providers are still working with HMRC to create packages which will allow forwarders to make declarations in the new environment, but I imagine the lack of engagement with stakeholders and ongoing EU negotiations will cloud the issue and cause more delays and confusion</li>
<li style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">There are 145,000 companies who purely trade with the EU and in the event of a "no deal" scenario, these companies would suddenly have to become conversant with formal Customs entries - and CDS. So far, Customs haven't engaged with this group.</li>
<li style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Compliance - we carry out Customs compliance work for many customers and for this, we need supporting shipment and Customs entry documents (C88/E2 etc) to confirm accuracy of declarations. When we asked whether CDS would be able to continue generating these Customs documents, no one could confirm if it could, a major concern</li>
<li style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Many questions were put to the panel with several from myself however most of these were take aways "we'll have to look into this", another concern for the audience</li>
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To summarize, I saw a report from the National Audit office the other day, which was rather worrying in itself, as it said that the CDS project is behind schedule and HMRC are unlikely to deliver the project on time.</div>
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I quote from their report in late June "Significant challenges remain and there is a risk that CDS will be unable to fully replace the existing CHIEF (Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight) system by January 2019".</div>
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Furthermore, they will be developing and testing the system at the same time as it migrates users (alarm bells now ringing...). They also won't know if CDS actually works in a live environment until it has implemented all the functionality in December 2018, more cause for concern.</div>
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I also attach a letter one of our customers received from HMRC which warned them about CDS but in truth, it doesn't tell you much at all!</div>
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So my advice to you is to start talking to your freight forwarder or Customs broker so they can tell you what stage they're at, what preparations they understand that you will need to make (such as updating commodity codes for your products) and hopefully we won't have to deal with logistics delays and disruption in early 2019, although I have to say that today, along with many other professionals at the seminar, I remain extremely concerned that we will.</div>
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Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-46453447326410388862017-06-13T19:30:00.004+01:002017-06-13T19:30:46.180+01:00Andy Cliff joins the judging panel for the prestigious 2017 BIFA Freight Service Awards in London!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Good afternoon All</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's been a while since our last blog however there's a good reason - we've been extremely busy with two new customers who have significant volumes of air and ocean freight traffic from Asia and the USA. We're currently in the initial review stage for a food importer and following an RFQ process, in the implementation stage for a company in the printing industry, where we've revealed annual freight savings of around 27% / £ 130,000 and as you can imagine, they are extremely pleased with the results!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0PVl1gxZrBcB12APg6dPK5UwM8v0aWm5sa_s8qHdP-VuVNPqCLs_Jw9asRy5b31BudQHPKciJBAgno_q9_2eKsyN5nbHR7_dokq90wev8jYXajBeQlM6ULMDqxNt1ydrN_YM9C27UEpjV/s1600/BIFA+Freight+Service+Awards+2017.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="94" data-original-width="378" height="77" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0PVl1gxZrBcB12APg6dPK5UwM8v0aWm5sa_s8qHdP-VuVNPqCLs_Jw9asRy5b31BudQHPKciJBAgno_q9_2eKsyN5nbHR7_dokq90wev8jYXajBeQlM6ULMDqxNt1ydrN_YM9C27UEpjV/s320/BIFA+Freight+Service+Awards+2017.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Back to the reason for this latest blog post. For the last 2 years, we have been on the judging panel for the Lloyds Loading List Global Freight Awards which we've thoroughly enjoyed, however this year, we've been invited by BIFA to join their judging panel for the prestigious 2017 BIFA Freight Service Awards in London.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Naturally, we're really pleased to be part of this process, especially as the British International Freight Association (BIFA) is the leading industry body for the UK logistics industry and most reputable forwarders regard membership as absolutely vital, given that BIFA often lobby government on transport and logistics issues and ensure that our industry has a professional voice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Please do take a look at our</span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Straightforward Consultancy website</a><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">, it’s straightforward, clear and concise, we wrote it in plain English as there’s enough confusing logistics/industry terminology out there and it makes the task of managing your international logistics even more daunting!<br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuIjocWWGmSp6E-xx4KtmjcUc6Kkdj7reI7LospwLleEVsli2RjNJbu9K_xy2WZFukuyRjlqs6hqZcdB_acPsHfjGxr3T1RLSEzO7GoYYsyVo78oMD51K3gJ_2xxWMVfUkHnL6pl_QD4nf/s1600/Andy+Cliff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuIjocWWGmSp6E-xx4KtmjcUc6Kkdj7reI7LospwLleEVsli2RjNJbu9K_xy2WZFukuyRjlqs6hqZcdB_acPsHfjGxr3T1RLSEzO7GoYYsyVo78oMD51K3gJ_2xxWMVfUkHnL6pl_QD4nf/s320/Andy+Cliff.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /><br /><br />Andy Cliff is an industry professional who launched his own logistics consultancy, Straightforward Consultancy Ltd (SCL) after a 30 year career in international logistics, working for companies such as DB Schenker, Kuehne & Nagel and DHL Global Forwarding in operational, sales and management roles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Andy felt that in an increasingly complex and confusing world of logistics, UK importers and exporters needed a company alongside them which could help them to reduce costs, lessen their workload and provide expert advice and support day-to-day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy was part of the judging panel for the 2016 Global Freight Awards, his second year in this prestigious role and now joins the judging panel for the </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2017 BIFA Freight Service Awards in London.</span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"> The awards recognize quality, innovation and performance in the field of international logistics.</span></div>
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Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-31653484474994458242017-05-02T10:25:00.003+01:002017-06-13T19:33:11.223+01:00Straightforward Consultancy makes the front page of leading logistics publication, Freight Business Journal!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's
always a pleasure to meet up with Chris Lewis, the editor of leading logistics
newspaper, Freight Business Journal, and when we arranged to meet in March 2017 as
part of their feature on logistics and the freight marketplace here in the North
West of the UK, we had plenty to catch up on. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />This was actually the second time
Chris had interviewed me, the last time being in Spring 2016 for a similar
feature. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPA7oGpfp4bf4eJ6GxdVtVk9JzLHlxYNenWRrbvlWV6L_YZ_Q_yucqjZsnyUCpon7-B1PZmHbGOqwEF5v_h_ZvQFlrQnxT_X3qaLLaG5yufr-0hki9g0Wvp3dscwZgzFR2rfGjua9JUQT4/s1600/Freight+Business+Journal+Article+-+2016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPA7oGpfp4bf4eJ6GxdVtVk9JzLHlxYNenWRrbvlWV6L_YZ_Q_yucqjZsnyUCpon7-B1PZmHbGOqwEF5v_h_ZvQFlrQnxT_X3qaLLaG5yufr-0hki9g0Wvp3dscwZgzFR2rfGjua9JUQT4/s320/Freight+Business+Journal+Article+-+2016.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /><br />One of the main talking points this time was the double whammy which has hit UK importers from China in particular, as we had the large fall in sterling against the dollar (-20%) following the UK referendum in June 2016 and also a continued rise in ocean freight rates, which accelerated after the large shipping line, Hanjin Shipping collapsed last Autumn. I have attached a photo of the front page and please let me know if you would like a copy of the full article, it's well worth a read, with other contributors featuring too.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you recognize the scenario that I describe, rising costs
and a feeling that you’ve lost control of your logistics costs and/or service, not just from China
but maybe the USA, why don’t you give us a call – we understand what it’s like
to be an importer or exporter and more than that, we have a vast amount of
knowledge and real world experience, have probably helped a company just like
yours and could also take all that work involved with a review from you, reduce
your costs, improve your compliance and tailor the service provided by a new
logistics provider to your individual needs.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Not only
that, we offer shared savings models which means that we do all the heavy
lifting and you see the service, communication, financial and other benefits
without having to become overly distracted from your primary role. It’s what we
do and we’re good at it. So please do give us a call, as they say, nothing
ventured, nothing gained.<br />
<br />
Take a look at our <a href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/">Straightforward Consultancy website</a>, it’s straightforward, clear and concise, we wrote
it in plain English as there’s enough
confusing logistics/industry terminology out there and it makes the task even more
daunting!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuIjocWWGmSp6E-xx4KtmjcUc6Kkdj7reI7LospwLleEVsli2RjNJbu9K_xy2WZFukuyRjlqs6hqZcdB_acPsHfjGxr3T1RLSEzO7GoYYsyVo78oMD51K3gJ_2xxWMVfUkHnL6pl_QD4nf/s1600/Andy+Cliff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuIjocWWGmSp6E-xx4KtmjcUc6Kkdj7reI7LospwLleEVsli2RjNJbu9K_xy2WZFukuyRjlqs6hqZcdB_acPsHfjGxr3T1RLSEzO7GoYYsyVo78oMD51K3gJ_2xxWMVfUkHnL6pl_QD4nf/s320/Andy+Cliff.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /><br /><br />
Andy Cliff is an industry professional who launched his own logistics
consultancy, Straightforward Consultancy Ltd (SCL) after a 30 year career in
international logistics, working for companies such as DB Schenker, Kuehne
& Nagel and DHL Global Forwarding in operational, sales and management
roles. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy was part
of the judging panel for the 2016 Global Freight Awards, his second year in this
prestigious role. The awards recognize quality, innovation and performance in
the field of international logistics. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy felt
that in an increasingly complex and confusing world of logistics, UK importers
and exporters needed a company alongside them which could help them to reduce
costs, lessen their workload and provide expert advice and support day-to-day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-15336878338820953982017-04-06T14:25:00.000+01:002017-04-06T14:31:28.214+01:00Visiting Multimodal 2017 at the NEC this week?<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Visiting
Multimodal 2017 at the NEC this week?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The
Multimodal exhibition is well worth a visit as it’s very compact and you can
visit the stands of many companies, be they logistics providers, shipping
lines, freight publications or even port operators such as Liverpool or DP
World. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.multimodal.org.uk/multimodal-2017">Multimodal 2017</a></span></div>
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Of course, if you’re an importer or exporter, you can talk with the people from
the logistics providers who are there (there’s usually around 5-6 well known
ones) although they will often be fairly senior and from their London office,
so will rarely be the people you would need to meet and discuss your traffic,
needs, frustrations etc. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So, it’s certainly
worth visiting and you will no doubt come away with a carrier bag full of
brochures and giveaways – and I think there lies the dilemma – you walk away
armed with info, ideas and great sales pitches but what are these companies
really like to work with and are they even competitive from a rate and service perspective.<br />
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Furthermore, you may do what many of us do, put the brochures in your “to do”
tray, fall back into the cut and thrust of day to day operations within your
business and do nothing and before you know it, a month has passed.<br />
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If that’s you, why don’t you give us a call – we understand what it’s like to
be an importer or exporter and more than that, we have a vast amount of
knowledge and real world experience, have probably helped a company just like
yours and could also take all that work involved with a review from you, reduce
your costs, improve your compliance and tailor the service provided by a new
logistics provider to your individual needs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-mq2TM2NhA3WQxqVKCIa3zJLaAA8ni1r5Dqjudrz4Z23t0uXm-9A_kuhFdzBYRfDphWhZ2KZmdK9LRE0tNcTmKgfK3s9pvlNVSQrTORjpjbmd5NrKwMvlzC7YKq9aJYYF4osYHjBcdYC_/s1600/SCL+on+Coll.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-mq2TM2NhA3WQxqVKCIa3zJLaAA8ni1r5Dqjudrz4Z23t0uXm-9A_kuhFdzBYRfDphWhZ2KZmdK9LRE0tNcTmKgfK3s9pvlNVSQrTORjpjbmd5NrKwMvlzC7YKq9aJYYF4osYHjBcdYC_/s320/SCL+on+Coll.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Not only
that, we offer shared savings models which means that we do all the heavy
lifting and you see the service, communication, financial and other benefits
without having to become overly distracted from your primary role. It’s what we
do and we’re good at it. So please do give us a call, as they say, nothing
ventured, nothing gained.<br />
<br />
Take a look at our <a href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/index.php">SCL website</a>, it’s straightforward, clear and concise, we wrote
it in plain English - there’s enough confusing
industry terminology out there and it makes the task even more daunting!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy Cliff is
an industry professional who launched his own logistics consultancy,
Straightforward Consultancy Ltd (SCL) after a 30 year career in international
logistics, working for companies such as DB Schenker, Kuehne & Nagel and
DHL Global Forwarding in operational, sales and management roles. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy was part
of the judging panel for the 2016 Global Freight Awards, his second year in
this prestigious role. The awards recognize quality, innovation and performance
in the field of international logistics. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy felt
that in an increasingly complex and confusing world of logistics, UK importers
and exporters needed a company alongside them which could help them to reduce
costs, lessen their workload and provide expert advice and support day-to-day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-42416223630666439502017-03-08T16:46:00.000+00:002017-04-06T14:19:06.084+01:00Rising fuel prices will feed into freight and logistics costs for UK importers and exporters<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's one of those very gradual changes that you may have only just begun to notice - but here in the UK, unleaded petrol fell to £1.00 per litre at the end of 2015, as crude oil prices fell to a seven year low.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-3336057/Petrol-falls-1-litre-Asda-Supermarket-ditched-Black-Friday-store-offers-motorists-cheapest-fuel-2.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Unleaded petrol falls to £1.00 per litre!</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Since then the price has been inching up, to the point where we're now over £1.20 per litre - pretty annoying if you use your car to do a daily commute - but also remember that these increases are already feeding into logistics costs. I took this photo only this morning here in Warrington where our company Straightforward Consultancy is based.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4mQ-MdnUyDuNQY2yLgeuKynIkJo7nBfEuchhQ6Gmzd2tmavUm8aBH8SIm076F3CYKUjQROWonhzhr5yC0f2d3hzBm8S5OSEBL5QvTE8XUQOsyxX2fDQKkOjgIMbFfShSLNqyaEBU-jexm/s1600/Shell+station.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4mQ-MdnUyDuNQY2yLgeuKynIkJo7nBfEuchhQ6Gmzd2tmavUm8aBH8SIm076F3CYKUjQROWonhzhr5yC0f2d3hzBm8S5OSEBL5QvTE8XUQOsyxX2fDQKkOjgIMbFfShSLNqyaEBU-jexm/s400/Shell+station.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">With ocean freight, we are seeing rises in bunker adjustment factor (BAF) a variable surcharge applied on top of core ocean freight rates and this is at the same time that the US dollar is at a historic all time high - circa USD 1.20 - why does that matter?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Because freight rates and surcharges for ocean are constructed in USD so there's a double whammy going on here. Even after your container has landed (or before it's loaded for export) fuel surcharges linked to container collection and delivery costs are being affected as most shipping lines and freight forwarders will have a base delivery price (lump sum) with a variable factor for fuel surcharge, so another area where fuel prices are increasing your costs.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht6skkCGWWt73NvYcOfAd6tToFSKA8JLC1dqphjyN-WxgeL33-jVkhyphenhyphenP8hVcsXMyhK0zA3kbqzThIGA786_M4GiilyEtUMe8DV4aWxh3yGHoWBExBOt8gpaG8gHPXZ1A6s3aS6LKGbBJfu/s1600/Straightforward+Consultancy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht6skkCGWWt73NvYcOfAd6tToFSKA8JLC1dqphjyN-WxgeL33-jVkhyphenhyphenP8hVcsXMyhK0zA3kbqzThIGA786_M4GiilyEtUMe8DV4aWxh3yGHoWBExBOt8gpaG8gHPXZ1A6s3aS6LKGbBJfu/s400/Straightforward+Consultancy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On the air freight side, fuel surcharges are affected as jet fuel prices have a direct link to the price of crude and again, most air freight rates are constructed in US Dollars.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So, do yourself a favour and find out exactly what you're being charged by your logistics provider - and if our experience since 2010 is anything to go by, you're probably paying around 35% more than we could achieve and you may not have proper controls in place to ensure your freight costs remain market competitive. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Why do I say that? Because we see this, month on month and it's a shame, because you really should ensure that you have a tight control on this area, not just because of basic financials, but also from a Customs compliance angle too - you could be wasting money on unnecessary import duties because of a loose or out of date process. Or worse, under-declaring to HMRC and risking a large fine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/testimonials.php">Our website - this way to a leaner, more responsive logistics model!</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy Cliff
is an industry professional who launched his own logistics consultancy, Straightforward
Consultancy Ltd (SCL) after a 30 year career in international logistics,
working for companies such as DB Schenker, Kuehne & Nagel and DHL Global
Forwarding in operational, sales and management roles. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy was
part of the judging panel for the 2016 Global Freight Awards, his second
year in this prestigious role. The awards recognize quality, innovation and
performance in the field of international logistics.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy felt
that in an increasingly complex and confusing world of logistics, UK importers
and exporters needed a company alongside them which could help them to reduce
costs, lessen their workload and provide expert advice and support day-to-day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 24.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
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Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-76768483916589354562017-02-22T18:57:00.002+00:002017-03-08T16:49:13.099+00:00USA container port workers plan to march on Washington<br />
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Further to our last blog on Logistics
Simplified "Clouds Building On The Logistics Horizon", the
notoriously militant International Longshoremen's Association, better known as
the ILA are in the news again. They have already signaled their intention to fight port automation
and strike another generous wage and benefits deal in the upcoming 2018
contract negotiations but are now in dispute with the Waterfront Commission of
New York harbour and state port operators in the South East over
"government interference" and plan a one day strike – not good!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.joc.com/port-news/longshoreman-labor/international-longshoremen%E2%80%99s-association/ila-planning-one-day-shutdown-march-washington_20170221.html?utm_source=Eloqua&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=%5BPMP%5D_PC9156_JOC%20Daily%3A%202%2F22%2F17_DB_Deployment" target="_blank">ILA planning one day strike </a><br /><br />
This doesn't augur at all well for the ILA master
contract negotiations which the ILA have said they would like to conclude
before the expiry deadline of September 2018.<br /><br />
Things could start to get fractious and disruptive
and if the drama surrounding the last contract negotiations in 2012/2013 is
anything to go by, if you export to or import from the USA, you may wish to
watch this situation very closely and have a contingency plan.<br />
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If you think it won't affect you because you use
non-union ports (for example Chester,PA which is served by ICL) then think
again, because US importers and exporters will look to alternative options
should the union start to strike and threaten disruption.<br />
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And the same goes for air freight, as customers
will divert ocean to air, so certainly one to watch - as they say forewarned in
forearmed!<br />
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Just drop us a line of you need any guidance or
would like to lean up your supply chain in general, especially in these times
of a very strong USD (which has ramped up freight costs for air and ocean).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/testimonials.php">
Our website - definitely worth a look</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy Cliff is an industry professional who launched his own
logistics consultancy, Straightforward Consultancy Ltd (SCL) after a 30 year
career in international logistics, working for companies such as DB Schenker,
Kuehne & Nagel and DHL Global Forwarding in operational, sales and
management roles. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy
was part of the judging panel for the 2016 Global Freight Awards,<br />his
second year in this prestigious role. The awards recognize quality, innovation
and performance in the field of international logistics.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
Andy felt that in an increasingly complex and confusing world of logistics, UK
importers and exporters needed a company alongside them which could help them
to reduce costs, lessen their workload and provide expert advice and support
day-to-day. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-2164845454244738722017-01-09T10:44:00.003+00:002017-02-22T18:32:52.499+00:00Clouds building on the logistics horizon for companies trading with the USA - ILA sound a warning shot!<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Some of you may remember our coverage of the dispute between the ILA (International Longshoreman's Association) union in 2012/2013 (whose staff man the container ports on the USA East and Gulf Coasts) when their hard line president Harold Daggett threatened to bring about a strike on the USA East Coast to bring their contract negotiations to a head.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWgg2Aya85cZg2p_aJkpCC_F7fWGS5i9hHAJ29XjRmUIq7_d_9kObe7SyFwYbtvludty4GbqNQ3mbWil-Qi38JFZVQpZ-NAKTzezgX1gTXFhv_5HdpJ18Pd3-IAMgiARompFedISV-XEfO/s1600/ILA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWgg2Aya85cZg2p_aJkpCC_F7fWGS5i9hHAJ29XjRmUIq7_d_9kObe7SyFwYbtvludty4GbqNQ3mbWil-Qi38JFZVQpZ-NAKTzezgX1gTXFhv_5HdpJ18Pd3-IAMgiARompFedISV-XEfO/s320/ILA.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the end the strike was avoided but we came very close and so close in fact that many US companies made contingency plans to route their cargo into other ports and send a portion of their product by air to ensure they could continue to supply their own customers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That new 6 year contract was agreed in 2013 as per the below article however we are now seeing the start of a new hard line stance regarding the new contract which will take effect in 2018.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.americanshipper.com/Main/ASD/ILA_members_approve_new_6year_contract_53522.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">New ILA contract signed in 2013</span></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.joc.com/port-news/longshoreman-labor/international-longshoremens-association/ila-automation-stance-signals-tough-labor-talks-ahead_20170105.html?utm_campaign=%5bPMP%5d_PC9156_JOC+Daily%3a+1%2f6%2f17_DB_Deployment&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily%25newswire&elqTrack=true&elqTrackId=f32be45ecc364e96965938e43aa41e6d&elq=1f7779ebd5424e22a8f846a4ca0c6fe0&elqaid=41555&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=16611" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Latest news on ILA contract talks </span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So, one for you to watch and be aware of as we could see disruption as the negotiations begin and continue, leading up to Sep-2018</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/testimonials.php" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Our website - definitely worth a look</span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.701961);"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy Cliff is an industry professional who launched his own logistics consultancy, Straightforward Consultancy Ltd (SCL) after a 30 year career in international logistics, working for companies such as DB Schenker, Kuehne & Nagel and DHL Global Forwarding in operational, sales and management roles. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy was part of the judging panel for the 2016 Global Freight Awards, his second year in this prestigious role. The awards recognize quality, innovation and performance in the field of international logistics.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy felt that in an increasingly complex and confusing world of logistics, UK importers and exporters needed a company alongside them which could help them to reduce costs, lessen their workload and provide expert advice and support day-to-day. </span></div>
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Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-19748970373079490762016-11-30T14:26:00.003+00:002016-11-30T14:32:21.386+00:00UK importers - 4 reasons you should seriously consider engaging a logistics consultancy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Afternoon All<br /><br />Here's something well worth reading, especially as it is so well put and dispels a lot of the myths/concerns about appointing an external source of expertise.<br /><br />It's written from a generalist perspective on any consultant, but I think it's particularly relevant to logistics, particularly as regards market knowledge, an objective viewpoint and actually getting the job done.<br /><br />With everything that's happened following the BREXIT referendum, most notably the 20% fall in the value of sterling against the USD and EURO, which, for importers, is destroying their margins and causing them to have to raise their prices (and potentially lose customers) this is even more relevant.<br /><br />If you can work with a consultancy who are true experts in their field and can deliver a real and measurable return on investment, now would would be a good time to act. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">I should add that we do operate using a gain share fee model for our freight review product and customers seem to like not only the financial savings but also the benefits of a refreshed, more responsive and robust supply chain model. The testimonials speak for themselves!</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrjf8ZThVhTmTuGAPKO1XWGvf0lObJNVFDHyQFAp_9gbRucPCHY6e8NhpyyfB-uHrLojWabg6yOOVwLY4kvEb9spi0DLoDmU8n1a-MiSio8-BwGhhYo2F_IDWKGKcZq5qiFG-ixztkoI9/s1600/expert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrjf8ZThVhTmTuGAPKO1XWGvf0lObJNVFDHyQFAp_9gbRucPCHY6e8NhpyyfB-uHrLojWabg6yOOVwLY4kvEb9spi0DLoDmU8n1a-MiSio8-BwGhhYo2F_IDWKGKcZq5qiFG-ixztkoI9/s400/expert.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you're looking to improve your supply chain, you may have considered using the services of a logistics consultant. You might be worried, though, about whether it will be worth the cost or bring any real benefits to your business. Here are some reasons to seriously consider using a consultant.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Product Knowledge</span></b><span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Working with a logistics consultant who has a broad knowledge base and experience working through similar issues to those you are experiencing brings a number of advantages to your team.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You'll probably have received loads of literature from sales people, for example, telling how great their products are, but how can you possibly choose between them? An independent logistics consultant is not selling products and does not get any financial incentives from the products they specify, therefore they can give objective advice.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A project run internally can often get sidetracked by everyday management issues. Bringing in a consultant who can focus on delivering results will ensure that the goals are achieved quicker.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Consultancy does not need to take project ownership away from the management. However, as long as management is clear about its objectives and is able to select, direct and manage the consultants carefully, real added value can be seen.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When Should I Use a Consultant?</span></b><span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">All organisations at some time reach a point when they are aware that they could be doing things better or differently. It may be one or several areas of the operations that are not achieving their goal or not functioning as efficiently as they might.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The main reasons for using consultants usually focus around:<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">o Complexity<br />o Timescales<br />o Expertise<br />o Resources<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Efficient Staffing</span></b><span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The issue or problem may be short-term. To manage the change effectively and maximize the benefits will require an intense effort, potentially jeopardizing the performance of the rest of the operation. Permanently increasing the headcount to handle a short-term project will increase operating expenses. A consultant can assist in managing the change until the introduction is complete and the operation has stabilized.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Often specialist knowledge exists within the company but a secondment cannot be arranged in the required time frame. Consultants are ideally suited to providing the skills that are not available from permanent staff.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Decisions which result in a large change or financial commitment from the company will frequently involve consultants to review any analysis before a decision is made. An outsider can ensure that an objective approach and attitude are taken and that all potential alternatives are known and explored. Often the consultant will know of additional alternatives which were not even considered previously. At other times just having the consultant confirm competent and thorough analysis can add additional weight to the business case.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If a project has lost momentum or is not delivering the expected results a consultant can quickly provide the input required to get it back on track.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Working With a Logistics Consultant</span></b><span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The use of consultants is unlikely to bring benefits if you dismiss the consultants' involvement as an expensive distraction from everyday operations. However, if you chose the right consultant or consultancy, clearly define the project objectives, provide the consultants with the information they require and set aside time to review progress and buy into their ideas, the benefits will be seen.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you read through that and found yourself agreeing with the article, then don't let the moment pass, just make contact (preferably with ourselves!) and I am sure that, provided you select a professional company, you will be so glad you took action, and so will your customers, colleagues and your bottom line.</span></o:p><br />
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<span style="color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.701961);"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy Cliff is an industry professional who launched his own logistics consultancy, Straightforward Consultancy Ltd (SCL) after a 30 year career in international logistics, working for companies such as DB Schenker, Kuehne & Nagel and DHL Global Forwarding in operational, sales and management roles. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy was part of the judging panel for the 2016 Global Freight Awards, his second year in this prestigious role. The awards recognize quality, innovation and performance in the field of international logistics.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy felt that in an increasingly complex and confusing world of logistics, UK importers and exporters needed a company alongside them which could help them to reduce costs, lessen their workload and provide expert advice and support day-to-day. </span></div>
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Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-85709133966674886202016-11-07T12:29:00.004+00:002016-12-22T10:59:09.672+00:00UK importers - is the strong dollar giving you a headache? <div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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Since the BREXIT vote, Sterling has fallen against the dollar by around 20%, which is a huge drop, especially if you are one of the 220,000 importers here in the UK. Given that most companies who source from outside the EU are buying from Asia or the USA, their suppliers are most likely selling to them in USD.</div>
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Understandably, most importers watch the sterling exchange rate with the USD like a hawk, and some even buy forward, fixing the exchange rate to protect themselves against negative swings which is prudent, although of course it's hard to know how much to buy forward when you don't have a crystal ball...!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx8ZqixRlpRXPeXhu3li5dyvB2iyJCy7PAmH-khhyphenhyphend2eD7V_TqX7-LMmG_xJsSzuxkl2AMKG9lQ77ZGi0phlwGIRWOOFCc1qz80go-_akXs32CEIBuWS3r9R5a_Uv9-Uql-4PGaTBP9bbK/s1600/crystal+ball.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx8ZqixRlpRXPeXhu3li5dyvB2iyJCy7PAmH-khhyphenhyphend2eD7V_TqX7-LMmG_xJsSzuxkl2AMKG9lQ77ZGi0phlwGIRWOOFCc1qz80go-_akXs32CEIBuWS3r9R5a_Uv9-Uql-4PGaTBP9bbK/s400/crystal+ball.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Although we monitor exchange rates each day in our business here at SCL, and we saw the rapid fall from circa USD 1.50 pre-referendum to around USD 1.30 shortly afterwards (and recently down to USD 1.20) it seems the public and media have only just realized that the weak pound will have a marked inflationary effect and so almost every day now, we see reports talking about the impact on UK inflation, and we see clear examples, such as petrol prices rising sharply, or talk about Apple jacking up the price of their latest Macbook to compensate for the weak pound.</div>
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To be honest, when I see these reports, I wonder whether senior management within these importers also realize that their freight costs, be that air or ocean, are also priced in USD, and so not only are their product prices rising, their freight costs are rising by 20% also. Furthermore, as import duty is based on the "built-up value", consisting of several elements, this includes freight costs and so import duty costs are also increased.</div>
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We've been trading since 2009 and we know the freight and logistics marketplace pretty well, and when we review a customers import traffic, we focus on several things.</div>
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<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Review the service levels to ensure they match the customers' needs</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Assess freight costs and whether they are market competitive</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Is the information flowing to the right stakeholders</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Are the customers' shipments being correctly declared to Customs (duty could also be over-declared)</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Is the pricing stable</li>
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The telling thing is that over the last 7 years, we have measured an average 35% freight cost saving across all the freight reviews we have carried out, and this is usually a shock (and also a pleasant surprise) for the customer. The reason is two-fold - we know what to look for when reviewing a customers' current logistics model - and we have strong partnerships with logistics providers who are competitive and reliable.</div>
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So, before you reach a decision about raising your UK selling prices, do yourself a favour and just make sure that your freight and duty costs are competitive, as you may preserve some margin, retain the customer or even give yourself an edge against your competitors who knee jerked into a large price rise - and still took a hit on their margins! As a consequence, you may also find that you are wasting money on a service which actually doesn't even meet your current needs.</div>
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So, just some advice really, business is hard enough as it is so just make sure you look at everything before you do raise prices and you'll not only be a leaner business, you'll also be better prepared if the business environment gets tough in 2017.</div>
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If you take a look at our <a href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/testimonials.php" target="_blank">customer testimonials</a>, I am sure you will be impressed, companies large and small rate us highly and our very first client from 2010 is still on board today. I have also been a panel judge at the Lloyds Global Freight Awards for 2 years so we're known as industry and market experts.</div>
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Andy Cliff is an industry professional who launched his own logistics consultancy, Straightforward Consultancy Ltd (SCL) after a 30 year career in international logistics, working for companies such as DB Schenker, Kuehne & Nagel and DHL Global Forwarding in operational, sales and management roles. </div>
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<img src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAjvAAAAJGU5NTFhZTBmLTk3NmMtNDA4MS05N2Y1LWY4NjA1OWU0ZTA2Nw.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></div>
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Andy was part of the judging panel for the 2016 Global Freight Awards, his second year in this prestigious role. The awards recognize quality, innovation and performance in the field of international logistics.</div>
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Andy felt that in an increasingly complex and confusing world of logistics, UK importers and exporters needed a company alongside them which could help them to reduce costs, lessen their workload and provide expert advice and support day-to-day. </div>
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Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-30419289320035882112016-10-10T13:28:00.004+01:002016-10-10T13:38:32.362+01:00Hanjin Shipping saga continues - Federal judge paves way to arrest of off-charter Hanjin ships in US waters<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Good afternoon All</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Some more information regarding Hanjin and the knock on effects of its bankruptcy which was first announced on 31-Aug, over a month ago.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I really feel for customers who, for whatever reason, have been unable to take delivery of their cargo and in some ways I am also a little puzzled, as we resolved issues with our customers really swiftly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As soon as we heard the news on 31-Aug, we ascertained that two of our customers were affected and had a clear plan to have the cargo released by arranging payment of significant deposits and there were no delays to deliveries as we made these plans before vessel arrival.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I suppose it also depends on the stance taken by the relevant ports however surely a port has a much stronger lever on payment of outstanding debts of the ship is allowed to dock.<br /><br />Either way, it shows how unpredictable international logistics can be, and how it's always useful to have someone on side who can cut through the jargon and who has real influence with logistics providers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.joc.com/maritime-news/container-lines/hanjin-shipping/judge-paves-way-arrest-charter-hanjin-ships-us-waters_20161007.html?destination=node/3305791%3Futm_source%3Dnewsletter%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_campaign%3Ddaily%2525newswire%26mgs1%3Df398o9cVoY" target="_blank">USA Journal Of Commerce Hanjin Story</a></span></h1>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGqrk_rZ4sX0AfS7A5vQMthZnEqAmsTtBUK_tsUOTG1AychqJdd853o64QdBlluuWUHwG86tMTnt1c00mig83rJgk_GJ9DKYliwpfQXCCdD2cA3Zo1XGL4cS0rwt8rKD2sXdf5AF9taS11/s1600/Hanjin+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGqrk_rZ4sX0AfS7A5vQMthZnEqAmsTtBUK_tsUOTG1AychqJdd853o64QdBlluuWUHwG86tMTnt1c00mig83rJgk_GJ9DKYliwpfQXCCdD2cA3Zo1XGL4cS0rwt8rKD2sXdf5AF9taS11/s400/Hanjin+1.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 107%;">Andy
Cliff is an industry professional who launched Straightforward Consultancy Ltd
(SCL) after a 30 year career in international logistics, having worked for
leading logistics providers including DB Schenker, Kuehne & Nagel and DHL
Global Forwarding in operational, sales and management roles. He has a unique
understanding of this area and uses his knowledge and networks to dramatically
improve landed cost, service and Customs compliance.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--></span><span style="color: #333333;"><br />
<!--[endif]--></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: small;">Andy felt that, in an increasingly complex and confusing
world of logistics, UK importers and exporters needed a company alongside them
which could help them to reduce costs, lessen their workload and provide expert
advice and support each day.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 107%;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Please
do visit our website <a href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/" target="_blank">here</a></span><br /></span><!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--></span></span><br />
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Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-28866647113482576912016-09-27T14:14:00.003+01:002016-09-27T14:22:24.144+01:00SOLAS Container Weighing Regulations - Authorities Signal End To "Light Touch" Approach <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Good afternoon All<br /><br />If you recall we posted a few articles here on our blog and on LinkedIn ahead of the new SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea) container weighing regulations which came into effect on 1-Jul-16.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1040969856066044492#editor/target=post;postID=4068011784644313332;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=6;src=postname" target="_blank">Our article on SOLAS from July</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">During the first 3 months the shipping lines and port operators signalled that they would adopt a light touch approach to the new laws so that exporters (and all in the supply chain) had a chance to adjust their procedures so that international trade was not disrupted.<br /><br />A reasonable stance by the IMO (International Maritime Organisation) who brought about the new SOLAS regulations however we're now a few days away from a firm approach on compliance, so that means no VGM (Verified Gross Mass) declaration, and the container will be rejected. Of course some ports around the world (eg DP World at Southampton, UK) are providing weighing facilities at the port which helps immensely, but for those that don't this change to 100% compliance may see some disruption for those exporters/forwarders who haven't taken SOLAS seriously.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.lloydsloadinglist.com/freight-directory/news/No-extension-likely-to-VGM-%E2%80%98light-touch%E2%80%99-enforcement/67604.htm#.V-pvtvArJ2Q" target="_blank">Lloyds Loading List Article</a><br /><br />Time for you to check whether you, if you're an exporter are compliant, and the same applies if you're an importer - is your supplier compliant? If not, you may see delays if containers are rejected.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Kind Regards<br /><br /><br /><br />Andy Cliff</span><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background: ; color: #333333; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy Cliff is an
industry professional who launched Straightforward Consultancy Ltd (SCL) after
a 30 year career in international logistics, having worked for leading
logistics providers including DB Schenker, Kuehne & Nagel and DHL Global
Forwarding in operational, sales and management roles. He has a unique
understanding of this area and uses his knowledge and networks to dramatically
improve landed cost, service and Customs compliance.<br />
<br />Want to learn more about what we do? Please visit our website <a href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/" target="_blank">here</a></span></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background: ; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy
felt that, in an increasingly complex and confusing world of logistics, UK
importers and exporters needed a company alongside them which could help them
to reduce costs, lessen their workload and provide expert advice and support
each day.</span><span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="background: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
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Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-85487413485682327752016-09-07T14:37:00.002+01:002016-09-07T14:41:38.428+01:00Latest update on Hanjin bankruptcy - US court gives go ahead to unload Hanjin vessels<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Good afternoon All<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background:; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The
collapse of Hanjin is causing serious disruption for many importers and
exporters as you may have seen on the news and our last blog post gives an in
depth overview of the situation since the news last Wed 31-Aug.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background:; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We’ve
just heard of some very welcome news as below.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background:; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background:; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://theloadstar.co.uk/relief-samsung-air-cargos-loss-us-judge-rules-hanjin-ships-can-unload/?utm_source=The+Loadstar+daily+email&utm_campaign=5a66c233da-Loadstar_7_September9_7_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c4570e43d4-5a66c233da-125883633" target="_blank">US judge orders that ships can unload</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="background:; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Below
please see our last blog post from yesterday with full background story.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background:; color: #333333;">If you
import or export by ocean freight, be that LCL or FCL, you may be affected by
the news that Hanjin Shipping filed for bankruptcy last Wednesday 31-Aug.
Hanjin are number 7 globally so this is big news. Here's an excerpt from our
LinkedIn post from last Wednesday and we immediately wrote to forwarders
involved with our customers' ocean freight movements to ascertain the exposure.
I am pleased to advise that we have limited exposure and for any shipments
which are caught up in this, we learned today that several LCL shipments in
consolidated containers are already released so we're very satisfied with this
outcome of course.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background; color: #333333;"><br />
"Top 10 shipping line Hanjin files for bankruptcy after failing to secure
USD 450 million cash injection. All goes to show that times are tough in the
global container market, especially in the fiercely competitive Asia-Europe
trade. Time to check if your freight forwarder has any cargo moving via Hanjin
as creditors may seize vessels and ports may refuse to accept Hanjin vessels
which may then make it difficult to take delivery of your containers/shipments.
Contact your forwarder now to see if you're affected, and if so what they're
doing to facilitate release"</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background:; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
Please be aware that your cargo could be caught up in this even if your full
containers (FCL) or part containers (LCL) are moving on other shipping lines -
why? Because it's common for shipping lines to share space on each others vessels.
For example, you could have a shipment booked on a Hanjin contract but moving
on K-Line or Yang Ming so either way, the cargo will get caught up in the
bankruptcy. So what could happen? What we're hearing is that global ports are
refusing to handle Hanjin ships as for example, they may be owed money for
berthing and unloading charges and want to recover money whilst they have some
leverage. I suggest the first thing you should do is contact your freight
forwarder / logistics provider to assess what exposure you actually have - and
then get a clear statement on their recovery plans.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background:; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
<br />
Andy Cliff is an industry professional who launched Straightforward Consultancy
Ltd (SCL) after a 30 year career in international logistics, having worked for
leading logistics providers including DB Schenker, Kuehne & Nagel and DHL
Global Forwarding in operational, sales and management roles. He has a unique
understanding of this area and uses his knowledge and networks to dramatically
improve landed cost, service and Customs compliance.<br />
<br />
Please do visit our website <a href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/testimonials.php" target="_blank">here</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background:; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy
felt that, in an increasingly complex and confusing world of logistics, UK
importers and exporters needed a company alongside them which could help them
to reduce costs, lessen their workload and provide expert advice and support
each day.</span><span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-72165951598959388962016-09-05T16:39:00.002+01:002016-09-05T16:58:20.747+01:00Hanjin Shipping bankruptcy - are you affected? Time to take action.<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Good afternoon All<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">If you import or export by ocean freight, be
that LCL or FCL, you may be affected by the news that Hanjin Shipping filed for
bankruptcy last Wednesday 31-Aug. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">Hanjin are number 7 globally so this is big
news. Here's an excerpt from our LinkedIn post from last Wednesday and we
immediately wrote to forwarders involved with our customers' ocean freight
movements to ascertain the exposure.</span><span style="color: #333333;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiangZyXVCbIc4nzGLKjxSBcD-RYCcB0R1wqdSN6rG33FquvzxUu72iciRLmwBOH8LC3Vbg9uCF3wR3XwIIdSWtTRxvYy0chtQIvOrbtUSGWzN2wO9jPE5BMn0HnezkjL-bvCfZyalc_MIl/s1600/Hanjin+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiangZyXVCbIc4nzGLKjxSBcD-RYCcB0R1wqdSN6rG33FquvzxUu72iciRLmwBOH8LC3Vbg9uCF3wR3XwIIdSWtTRxvYy0chtQIvOrbtUSGWzN2wO9jPE5BMn0HnezkjL-bvCfZyalc_MIl/s400/Hanjin+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br />
"Top 10 shipping line Hanjin files for bankruptcy after failing to secure
USD 450 million cash injection. All goes to show that times are tough in the
global container market, especially in the fiercely competitive Asia-Europe
trade. Time to check if your freight forwarder has any cargo moving via Hanjin
as creditors may seize vessels and ports may refuse to accept Hanjin vessels
which may then make it difficult to take delivery of your containers/shipments.
Contact your forwarder now to see if you're affected, and if so what they're
doing to facilitate release.<br /><br />Lloyds Loading List article <a href="http://www.lloydsloadinglist.com/freight-directory/news/Fallout-begins-from-Hanjin-bankruptcy/67395.htm?utm_source=Lloyd%27s+Loading+List+Daily+News+Bulletin&utm_campaign=033574171f-Wed_30_July7_30_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1a5c244239-033574171f-256747097#.V82SK5grJ2Q" target="_blank">here</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I am pleased to advise that we actually had limited exposure and for any customers' shipments which are caught up in this, we learned today that several LCL shipments in consolidated containers are already released so we're very satisfied with this outcome of course. You should not assume however that every freight forwarder will adopt the same approach or be able to get their containers released. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In our case, the forwarder made a commercial decision and paid an extra USD 3000 to secure release from the port. It was a wise commercial move as they will most likely recover the money down the line but it means their customers are not faced with delays or extra costs and they showed leadership.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
Please be aware that your cargo could be caught up in this even if your full
containers (FCL) or part containers (LCL) are moving on other shipping lines -
why? </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Because it's common for shipping lines to share space on each other's
vessels. For example, you could have a shipment booked on a Hanjin contract but
moving on K-Line or Yang Ming so either way, the cargo will get caught up in
the bankruptcy. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLATlLJp0RvFnLebyPFIAVXnplpybxx3_n9zgQKgx2X5G0gVFPaHFSj0zfuoTlRDlM3xK4GvygN7rR004BPK8jnrCi94-kkGafiZzH8i57IBU0Kxwe0GxJgx4L37dh-H2kXoKfXwg3f4F4/s1600/Hanjin+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLATlLJp0RvFnLebyPFIAVXnplpybxx3_n9zgQKgx2X5G0gVFPaHFSj0zfuoTlRDlM3xK4GvygN7rR004BPK8jnrCi94-kkGafiZzH8i57IBU0Kxwe0GxJgx4L37dh-H2kXoKfXwg3f4F4/s400/Hanjin+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So what could happen? What we're hearing is that global ports
are refusing to handle Hanjin ships as for example, they may be owed money for
berthing and unloading charges and want to recover money whilst they have some
leverage. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I suggest the first thing you should do is contact your freight
forwarder / logistics provider to assess what exposure you actually have - and
then get a clear statement on their recovery plans.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Good luck and let me know how you get on.<br /><br />Kind Regards<br /><br /><br /><br />Andy Cliff</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwfYk9gbOIVsIEBh9hm9Ry6g3rOD86GitdiY8Vj9vwMdq1NHksE5oGb41KTJRzZAZPm7o8esqVH88JfQ0aHgAA2ht2k1KWE4P4bblKTsJMX2SjG4PFHTziiJbdliKKy-BcUBqj05zv3361/s1600/Andy+Cliff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwfYk9gbOIVsIEBh9hm9Ry6g3rOD86GitdiY8Vj9vwMdq1NHksE5oGb41KTJRzZAZPm7o8esqVH88JfQ0aHgAA2ht2k1KWE4P4bblKTsJMX2SjG4PFHTziiJbdliKKy-BcUBqj05zv3361/s320/Andy+Cliff.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
<br />
Andy Cliff is an industry professional who launched Straightforward Consultancy
Ltd (SCL) after a 30 year career in international logistics, having worked for leading
logistics providers including DB Schenker, Kuehne & Nagel and DHL Global
Forwarding in operational, sales and management roles. He has a unique
understanding of this area and uses his knowledge and networks to dramatically improve
landed cost, service and Customs compliance.<br />
<br />
Please do visit our website <a href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/" target="_blank">here</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy
felt that, in an increasingly complex and confusing world of logistics, UK
importers and exporters needed a company alongside them which could help them
to reduce costs, lessen their workload and provide expert advice and support
each day.</span><span style="font-family: "century gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-63336079943055049302016-08-01T13:48:00.002+01:002016-08-01T17:08:21.324+01:00Going the extra mile - sure about that?<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">
I realized something the other day about this time of year, when companies see their staff taking the bulk of their holidays between Jul and September to take advantage of the school summer break, and leaving departments pretty stretched.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQKen4jFZhfBamFv37JfVgBw4QCnOtWS_u-nc0jenatULyH9zyLhsHTaSs2m006n6l9K0u43lenxfgolLJO81LIRaD-vpnhC5zIJJik1uTUfZAKcqXe5wxlpIMmTJx0Ytee_TFpLJr4dnL/s1600/extra+mile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQKen4jFZhfBamFv37JfVgBw4QCnOtWS_u-nc0jenatULyH9zyLhsHTaSs2m006n6l9K0u43lenxfgolLJO81LIRaD-vpnhC5zIJJik1uTUfZAKcqXe5wxlpIMmTJx0Ytee_TFpLJr4dnL/s400/extra+mile.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Some would say, well, it's ok because business is quieter in summertime however, from what we see, working in really close partnership with UK importers and exporters, there's still plenty of business activity and of course there's always the urgent customer orders which need to be fulfilled regardless.<br />
<br />
And this takes me to the light bulb moment, and how, sometimes, you can underestimate the value you add to customers beyond your core services or offering. In our case, we help companies to reduce their international logistics costs, ensure they're Customs compliant and act as a virtual logistics manager managing the logistics area so they can focus on their core activities.<br />
<br />
Although this has happened many times, it suddenly became apparent to me last week, when the contact at one of our USA import customers advised he was taking his summer holiday which would span two weeks. We work very closely with this person day to day and are in the loop on communications with their USA suppliers so we follow each order from when it's placed to when it's finally delivered, measuring and monitoring service levels.<br />
<br />
Mark advised me mid-week that he had 4 urgent orders from 4 separate USA suppliers on the go which would all be moving by air freight. These suppliers were in Texas, Tennessee, Illinois and New Hampshire however Mark would be on holiday with cover by a colleague who wasn't that familiar with the mechanics of the US shipments.<br />
<img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAhWAAAAJDRhMzAzNTNkLTFjYmUtNGQyYS1hMzg3LTA4OWU1OGQ4MDUzOQ.jpg" height="426" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAhWAAAAJDRhMzAzNTNkLTFjYmUtNGQyYS1hMzg3LTA4OWU1OGQ4MDUzOQ.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="640" /><br />
When Mark finished on Thursday 28-Jul, the most urgent of the 4 orders, which was needed on Monday 1-Aug was still not packed and the Texas one was just being collected that day. The other 2 were in motion and we knew they were set to arrive on Sunday so they were lined up for Monday delivery.</div>
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What we did here was fill the space Mark vacated and communicate directly with the factory in New Hampshire as we knew it absolutely had to be picked up Friday to achieve Monday delivery. At 2100 hours on Friday evening (1600 East Coast US) we got the reply we wanted and made sure the order was then assigned to a direct Saturday evening flight. </div>
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<img alt="" class="left" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAljAAAAJGFjNTM0MmI5LWYwMjUtNDkzZS04ZDhmLTNhNTYwNDc3MDVlOA.gif" height="345" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAljAAAAJGFjNTM0MmI5LWYwMjUtNDkzZS04ZDhmLTNhNTYwNDc3MDVlOA.gif" style="float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 30px; margin-right: 30px; margin-top: 30px; max-width: 100%;" width="268" /></div>
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To summarize, what is interesting here is that most freight forwarders work from say 0830-1730 so the UK office of the forwarder (the one who would generally update the client) had finished however they have their own holiday period challenges too, and our usual contact was on holiday on Friday which left another gap so we dealt with another less familiar contact until close of business Friday.</div>
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On Saturday morning, we wanted to ensure everything was still on track and checked that both the Texas and New Hampshire shipments were moving as planned, which they were.<br />
<br />
So, on Monday morning (today) at 0730 we requested a status update for the customer, and Mark's relief contact came into work with some great news for their own customer, knowing that we had been working behind the scenes over the weekend to make this all happen.<br />
<br />
I'm sure that many customers will experience not only the effect of their own departments being stretched, but also their freight forwarder sometimes struggling to maintain the service levels when they themselves are short staffed due to holiday breaks, or other reasons throughout the year, such as sickness, training, maternity or paternity leave.<br />
<br />
I suppose the moral here is, if you say you care about customers, demonstrate this in your actions and secondly, don't undervalue what you do for your customers when you go above and beyond your core offering. For me, I don't think I've ever forgotten what I learned about going above and beyond in my days in forwarding operations and how doing something extra can make such a massive difference to a customer. That's why I love what I do.</div>
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If you take a look at our testimonials, I think you will be impressed, companies large and small rate us highly and our very first client from 2010 is still on board today. I have also been a panel judge at the Lloyds Global Freight Awards for 2 years so we're known as industry and market experts.</div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/index.php" href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/index.php" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Click here to take a look at our story, case studies and testimonials</a></div>
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">
Andy Cliff is an industry professional who launched his own logistics consultancy, Straightforward Consultancy Ltd (SCL) after a 30 year career in international logistics, working for companies such as DB Schenker, Kuehne & Nagel and DHL Global Forwarding in operational, sales and management roles. </div>
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<img alt="" class="left" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAekAAAAJDMyZmViMmJlLTY0NjItNGY5Zi1iYWEwLWExM2YwOGE3YzMyZA.jpg" height="286" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAekAAAAJDMyZmViMmJlLTY0NjItNGY5Zi1iYWEwLWExM2YwOGE3YzMyZA.jpg" style="float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 30px; margin-right: 30px; margin-top: 30px; max-width: 100%;" width="286" /></div>
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Andy is part of the judging panel for the 2016 Global Freight Awards, his second year in this prestigious role. The awards recognize quality, innovation and performance in the field of international logistics. </div>
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Andy felt that in an increasingly complex and confusing world of logistics, UK importers and exporters needed a company alongside them which could help them to reduce costs, lessen their workload and provide expert advice and support day-to-day. </div>
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Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-3085293500172189992016-07-27T16:58:00.003+01:002016-07-27T16:58:45.200+01:00Confused about SOLAS and VGM rules for ocean freight shipments - this podcast is worth a listen<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Good afternoon All</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you're confused about the new SOLAS/VGM rules which came inti effect on 1st July 2016, the this podcast may be worth a listen. You can also of course take a look at our other blog posts on this topic.<br /><br />Just a quick blog post whilst I had a moment!<br /><br />Kind Regards<br /><br /><br /><br />Andy Cliff</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://theloadstar.co.uk/podcast-verified-gross-mass-round-table/?utm_source=The+Loadstar+daily+email&utm_campaign=945cef2ab6-Loadstar_27_July7_27_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c4570e43d4-945cef2ab6-125883633" target="_blank">Podcast on VGM</a><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 32px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy Cliff is an industry professional who launched his own logistics consultancy, Straightforward Consultancy Ltd (SCL) after a 30 year career in international logistics, working for companies such as DB Schenker, Kuehne & Nagel and DHL Global Forwarding in operational, sales and management roles.</span><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 32px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy is part of the judging panel for the 2016 Global Freight Awards, his second year in this prestigious role. The awards recognize quality, innovation and performance in the field of international logistics. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 32px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy felt that in an increasingly complex and confusing world of logistics, UK importers and exporters needed a company alongside them which could help them to reduce costs, lessen their workload and provide expert advice and support day-to-day. </span></div>
</div>
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Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-18472626157128648822016-07-14T11:01:00.000+01:002016-07-14T14:18:36.923+01:00UK importers – post BREXIT, your costs just increased by 13% in a week – it really is time to act<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you are a regular importer, you will no doubt be aware
that after the EU referendum vote on 23<sup>rd</sup> June 2016, the UK
pound/Sterling fell sharply on the foreign exchanges from around USD 1.50 on June
23<sup>rd</sup> to below USD 1.30 and it’s remained at this level for almost 2
weeks, so we can assume that this will be the new level for the foreseeable
future. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Looking further back, one year ago the USD was 1.55 and averaged that
level for the whole of July-15. So, we are looking at a cost increase of almost
17% which is significant.<br />
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I’ve worked in international trade since 1980 and know that most companies will
purchase product from regions like Asia and North America in USD however many
don’t realize that the major part of their freight costs are also calculated in
USD. <br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For example, if you import from the USA, the pick up
charges, terminal handling, freight rate itself and surcharges such as BAF (fuel
surcharge) and LSF (low sulphur fuel surcharge) will all be rated in USD. It's also worth mentioning that if you export by ocean, the freight rate is also rated in USD so another area to investigate.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrCRY7iTUceXpT_ke_FfIfrT9wcx3V25jYy-HR4sUNj44f_z0wu6xMC94l0Z0LxLAqeAlnfuucTOWFs_sgBk6b3MMgG4rqbKXT0pYEWztsuS44xTRIUkM8v8vcCI30M9Ct7VRNoYyy9UHl/s1600/Import+Sign+photo+-+iStock+-+for+LI+post.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrCRY7iTUceXpT_ke_FfIfrT9wcx3V25jYy-HR4sUNj44f_z0wu6xMC94l0Z0LxLAqeAlnfuucTOWFs_sgBk6b3MMgG4rqbKXT0pYEWztsuS44xTRIUkM8v8vcCI30M9Ct7VRNoYyy9UHl/s400/Import+Sign+photo+-+iStock+-+for+LI+post.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">From our experience over the last 6 years here
at Straightforward Consultancy (SCL), we know that companies are sometimes
reluctant to review their logistics as it can be time consuming, confusing for
a non-expert and they don’t really want to place their supply chain at risk. </span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is why they entrust this work to experts like ourselves who take the lead,
involving them to ensure their needs are met when negotiating with freight
providers and nothing is left to chance. </span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The thing that most customers find
surprising is the amount of money they have been wasting (the average we have
measured since 2010 is a hefty 35%) and sometimes receiving a pretty mediocre service
as well!<br />
<br />
What we’re about is not just lowering landed costs for our customers, but using
the opportunity to refresh their existing model at the same time, making it lower cost, reliable
and Customs compliant. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkPUJTD0yE1vhKf5rZCE-P3Aou62xDpbcXjdIANtavfgGpVoN9-5Z7KfC6DVKaQ33Wp1M0ldimdRJIoQqKDXzwl0oUWrjXL9gvlO1jkYiHtr9doZnBEFZZSJoBPaLe_2vewxegsU0xSEoK/s1600/Customs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkPUJTD0yE1vhKf5rZCE-P3Aou62xDpbcXjdIANtavfgGpVoN9-5Z7KfC6DVKaQ33Wp1M0ldimdRJIoQqKDXzwl0oUWrjXL9gvlO1jkYiHtr9doZnBEFZZSJoBPaLe_2vewxegsU0xSEoK/s400/Customs.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We also often find that not only are they paying way
more than necessary, but also that their consignments aren’t being correctly
declared to HMRC, and we’ve had one customer who recovered almost £ 30,000 of overpaid Customs import duty from
HMRC because of our expertise.<br />
<br />
So, to summarize, if you have been meaning to look at this area for some time but
it’s been on the back burner, it really is time to act. </span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Your managing director,
financial director and operations director will appreciate your initiative and
it will help to offset the squeeze on your company's margins, brought about by the 17%
hike in your landed freight costs.<br />
<br />
Just to add one more thing, we are very experienced in this area and offer free
assessments for customers who are keen to reduce freight and related costs.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We also offer a shared savings/gain share fee model for our work which means our work is results based, includes
everything from review to implementation and a full year of freight management,
making sure that your costs stay competitive and you have access to expert
advice and our knowledge of the logistics marketplace. </span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you take a look at
our testimonials, I think you will be impressed, companies large and small rate
us highly and our very first client from 2010 is still on board today. I have also been a panel judge at the Lloyds Global Freight Awards for 2 years so we're known as industry and market experts.</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">So if you're concerned about your rising costs, do get in touch, it may be the best decision you've made in 2016!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><br /></span></span><a href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/index.php" target="_blank">Click here to see our story, case studies and customer testimonials</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNb2dY6kEbz2KJHOS8ZXli0ePWc1G5Q_Wo1PtfVkoINVH8mzuQ3vrVcoh5FhZKO_4pIMdMSZvZWsbXB8H4vzAq-03Emd2jNOQOruO-cRswCT6EmAFxvM_4qj8z5USWNUSfYagusp5YX2BZ/s1600/Andy+Cliff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNb2dY6kEbz2KJHOS8ZXli0ePWc1G5Q_Wo1PtfVkoINVH8mzuQ3vrVcoh5FhZKO_4pIMdMSZvZWsbXB8H4vzAq-03Emd2jNOQOruO-cRswCT6EmAFxvM_4qj8z5USWNUSfYagusp5YX2BZ/s400/Andy+Cliff.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy Cliff is an industry professional who launched his own logistics consultancy, Straightforward Consultancy Ltd (SCL) after a 30 year career in international logistics, working for companies such as DB Schenker, Kuehne & Nagel and DHL Global Forwarding in operational, sales and management roles</span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 17.12px;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy
is part of the judging panel for the 2016 Global Freight Awards, his
second year in this prestigious role. The awards recognize quality, innovation
and performance in the field of international logistics. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy
felt that in an increasingly complex and confusing world of logistics, UK
importers and exporters needed a company alongside them which could help them
to reduce costs, lessen their workload and provide expert advice and support
day-to-day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[endif]--></span>Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-40680117846443133322016-06-22T15:56:00.002+01:002016-09-27T14:23:53.565+01:00SOLAS Container Weighing Regulations - VGM - Full Container Ocean Shipments - just 7 days to go - are you ready?<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Good afternoon All</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Many UK importers and exporters are hopefully aware of the new SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea) regulations coming into effect from July 1st 2016 to ensure that container vessels are not overloaded and don't in turn, place lives and vessels at risk.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The new law insists that shippers take legal responsibility for the declaration of a Verified Gross Mass (VGM) either involving them weighing the complete container (Method 1) or their cargo and the empty container weight (Method 2).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Although these changes have been publicized for at least 6 months, it is fair to say that the industry stakeholders in this change (freight forwarders, shipping lines, port operators) have struggled to communicate / collaborate effectively and in some regions such as Asia and the USA, it is very concerning that the industry is either down to the wire or just plain "not ready" and more importantly, freight forwarders seem to have been slow to advise their customers/shippers how to comply with the law and what they need to do from July 1st.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaZfojBTAIlp09CViKvvEoUtEWbaLyHGjm0AzHUC19Pfgxtr0oYhYk7SR1nw81tCRncHt7x03pbNHwUyy1NQ6_B5njVhpDAUra91xBNPD2DxFx4ZDBhmNeTomrVcMxFfc2kBYoi_0b1BvG/s1600/Middle+East+Port+photo+-+iStock_000002343884Medium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaZfojBTAIlp09CViKvvEoUtEWbaLyHGjm0AzHUC19Pfgxtr0oYhYk7SR1nw81tCRncHt7x03pbNHwUyy1NQ6_B5njVhpDAUra91xBNPD2DxFx4ZDBhmNeTomrVcMxFfc2kBYoi_0b1BvG/s400/Middle+East+Port+photo+-+iStock_000002343884Medium.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The region of most concern seems to be Asia, where the industry seems only to have woken up to the regulation change in the last 15-30 day, having said that, the USA is also lagging behind.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So why should you as a UK exporter or importer be concerned? Well, if you or your freight forwarder are not ready to comply from July 1st, your containers will be delayed and in turn, your end customers will be affected with missed deadlines or stock shortages..</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here in the UK, the area we see the biggest area of concern is for UK importers, who may think they won't be affected as they don't load containers however they will be affected, as their overseas suppliers will need to comply and what we've seen ourselves is that this really important area has been missed</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">From our side, we've been monitoring the situation very closely for 3-4 months and have ensured that all of our customers' overseas suppliers have been contacted and are ready to play their part in ensuring a smooth transition.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you are a UK exporter or importer and you're not aware or don't feel that your freight forwarder is on top of this regulation change, we suggest you get in touch with them urgently and ask for an update on how they intend to ensure that the flow of containers from overseas suppliers or to your international customers will not be disrupted.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you need any help to ensure either you or your overseas suppliers are ready for the big chamge, please do contact us. We'll also probably find that you're actually paying too much for your freight costs and given that the USD is very strong at the moment, most companies want to try and reduce their landed costs to ensure they preserve their profit margins. We operate gain share / shared savings fee models which are very appealing to customers as they're results based and the customer doesn't have to spend days of their valuable time carrying out this complicated exercise.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Just take a look at our website if you're interested, it may be the best decision you've made in 2016.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy Cliff is an industry professional who launched his own logistics consultancy, Straightforward Consultancy Ltd (SCL) after a 30 year career in international logistics, working for companies such as DB Schenker, Kuehne & Nagel and DHL Global Forwarding in operational, sales and management roles.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOe275MgOPo493_Its5PHpPg6XkUPE0CmMfjNOPnod3C-PhqQANr-_IJSBAHYNPPGaouTwZ3GZzW9NsygGobrRCXYLv4HpmWF63NyiqOl05zDHbMT1UoN0Y-fJoUCfC3i59wiMjaAOklzQ/s1600/Andy+Cliff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOe275MgOPo493_Its5PHpPg6XkUPE0CmMfjNOPnod3C-PhqQANr-_IJSBAHYNPPGaouTwZ3GZzW9NsygGobrRCXYLv4HpmWF63NyiqOl05zDHbMT1UoN0Y-fJoUCfC3i59wiMjaAOklzQ/s320/Andy+Cliff.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy is part of the judging panel for the 2016 Global Freight Awards, his second year in this prestigious role. The awards recognize quality, innovation and performance in the field of international logistics. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 32px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Andy felt that in an increasingly complex and confusing world of logistics, UK importers and exporters needed a company alongside them which could help them to reduce costs, lessen their workload and provide expert advice and support day-to-day. </span></div>
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<br />Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-67588182461796888712016-06-13T17:33:00.002+01:002016-06-13T17:33:44.542+01:00Straightforward Consultancy - the story in a nutshell...<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good evening All</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's hard to believe that Straightforward Consultancy came to life 6 years ago, following my departure from DHL and a desire to do something very different.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I decided to use my industry experience to help UK importers & exporters to reduce their freight and related costs and with our market knowledge and our network of industry contacts, we could also improve service levels and monitor and manage the freight and Customs side of their business for them and it's been a big success, with some great customer feedback and loyalty.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even now, years after the recession first hit, many companies are nervous about the economic outlook for 2016 and their margins are still under, as their costs have risen but their own selling prices have remained flat or have been driven down. The USD has also been very strong for around 6 months (below USD 1.50) which hurts importers in particular.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many companies would like to review their logistics spend and carrier performance however freight and Customs is justifiably regarded as a complex area and most don't have the time or expertise in house.. To add to that, the sheer number of freight forwarders, services and rate options add to their dilemma, and afraid of making things worse, they stay with their existing freight model, wasting money and missing out on a better service. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We offer free consultations to interested companies and often uncover potential +30% savings which surprises customers but we know what to look for and the best solution for their needs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We operate a results-based gain share fee model, leaving clients with nett savings of over 60% so really they have nothing to lose!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also have a great deal of Customs knowledge, which we've used to great effect, be that supporting a company through a Customs investigation or helping them to recover overpaid duties. We also help customers to dramatically improve their Customs Compliance, so any future Customs visits are no longer something to fear.<br /><br />When I was asked to judge at the Global Freight Awards last year (and again in 2016) I was surprised and flattered, but I suppose we had been in the media, writing articles and blogs for a couple of years and we had become well known and respected, not just by our customers, but also importantly by the logistics providers that we had worked with and so that was clearly noticed by Lloyds Loading List who run the awards.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you want to read more about my background, please review my LinkedIn profile or our blog.</span><br /><a href="http://straightforwardconsultancy.blogspot.co.uk/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Straightforward Consultancy Blog</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/profile/preview?vpa=pub&locale=en_US" target="_blank">LinkedIn Profile</a><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please follow me on Twitter @AndyCliffSCL, visit our website <a data-mce-href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/" href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk</a> and our blog <a data-mce-href="http://straightforwardconsultancy.blogspot.co.uk/" href="http://straightforwardconsultancy.blogspot.co.uk/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://straightforwardconsultancy.blogspot.co.uk/</a></span></div>
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andy Cliff is an industry professional who launched his own logistics consultancy, Straightforward Consultancy Ltd (SCL) after a 30 year career in international logistics, working for companies such as DB Schenker, Kuehne & Nagel and DHL Global Forwarding in operational, sales and management roles.</span></div>
<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andy is part of the judging panel for the 2016 Global Freight Awards, his second year in this prestigious role. The awards recognize quality, innovation and performance in the field of international logistics. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Andy felt that in an increasingly complex and confusing world of logistics, UK importers and exporters needed a company alongside them which could help them to reduce costs, lessen their workload and provide expert advice and support day-to-day. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-64717159389002665652016-06-07T13:52:00.000+01:002016-06-07T13:56:33.157+01:00Sterling is under pressure due to BREXIT concerns - or is it?<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">
As we watched the evening news yesterday, we were told that the pound fell, apparently linked to the concerns that Britain will leave the EU, so alarm bells were ringing across the City - and people should be worried.<br />
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In the spirit of balance and objectivity, can we just hang on a minute here?<br />
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We monitor the pound against key currencies each day as we verify freight costs as part of the freight management service for our import and export clients (most freight costs are charged in USD) and frankly I find that headline alarmist and designed to frighten people about what may happen if we leave the EU, regardless of your views.</div>
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Please let me provide some facts on Sterling over the last 6 months which you can clearly see below in the concise report we've compiled this morning, logging the exchange rate at 1 month intervals against major currencies, using the Bank Of England database as our source. </div>
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Sterling has been far weaker than it is today, particularly in April 2016, when you can see it was weaker against the USD and the EURO which put this into a more balanced context and it also shows that Sterling is pretty resilient. On 26-Feb it actually fell to USD 1.38, 6 cents below yesterday's level.</div>
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The government also tells us that if the pound falls, we will see inflation however despite 6 months of a weak pound, there's no evidence of that in UK inflation figures, and of course a weaker pound gives our UK exporters a vital edge in a really competitive global economy. Again, our government is keen to push exports via the Exporting Is Great initiative via UKTI so can the media and government please stop pushing the Project Fear agenda and report in a much more balanced way.</div>
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Please follow me on Twitter @AndyCliffSCL, visit our website <a data-mce-href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/" href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk</a> and our blog <a data-mce-href="http://straightforwardconsultancy.blogspot.co.uk/" href="http://straightforwardconsultancy.blogspot.co.uk/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://straightforwardconsultancy.blogspot.co.uk/</a></div>
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<em>Andy Cliff is an industry professional who launched his own logistics consultancy, Straightforward Consultancy Ltd (SCL) after a 30 year career in international logistics, working for companies such as DB Schenker, Kuehne & Nagel and DHL Global Forwarding in operational, sales and management roles.</em></div>
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<em>Andy is part of the judging panel for the 2016 Global Freight Awards, his second year in this prestigious role. The awards recognize quality, innovation and performance in the field of international logistics. </em> </div>
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<em>Andy felt that in an increasingly complex and confusing world of logistics, UK importers and exporters needed a company alongside them which could help them to reduce costs, lessen their workload and provide expert advice and support day-to-day. </em></div>
Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040969856066044492.post-26581265023125030912016-04-21T13:00:00.000+01:002016-04-21T13:03:09.207+01:00Did you see our article on the Union Customs Code?<div style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">
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<span style="color: #232629; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Re-issue of our Union Customs Code article from 15th March 2016.<br /></span><br />
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<span style="color: #232629;">For those of you who import or export, the Union Customs Code takes effect on 1st May, less than 6 weeks from now and in the spirit of our motto, "logistics simplified" we decided to distill all of the information we'd gathered into a no- nonsense, practical and concise overview and write to all our customers so they were fully abreast of the changes...we also thought it may be useful to the wider supply chain community hence our post today. </span><br />
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You may have heard about the changes taking place on 1st May 2016 with the arrival of the Union Customs Code. You may also have heard the term Authorized Economic Operator being used in the same conversation and naturally, you may then be wondering, what do these terms mean – and how will they affect our business?<br />
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As you can imagine, we have been monitoring the developments closely, have attended a dedicated UCC/AEO seminar and have since had written and verbal discussions with one of the leading Customs officers in the UCC team here in the UK.</div>
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It’s fair to say that Customs have not been very forthcoming with information on exactly how importers/exporters (referred to as traders by HMRC) will be affected and in fact, the officer we communicated with advised us that they are still to release more detailed guidance on 31st March 2016 (only 1 month prior to the launch date of the UCC!). To be fair to HMRC, the finer points of the UCC were only ratified in late 2015 which prevented them releasing more details.<br />
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Firstly, I should explain in more detail what both of the above terms mean.<br />
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<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">Union Customs Code</span><br />
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Since the 1990s, within the EU, we have operated under the Community Customs Code, however after almost 10 years of discussion and a failure to agree on the Modernised Customs Code (MCC), the UCC was ratified in 2013 and will bring about the following changes from 1st May 2016:- </div>
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<li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">More streamlined Customs legislation and procedures</li>
<li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Greater legal certainty and uniformity to businesses</li>
<li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Increased clarity for customs officials throughout the EU</li>
<li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Simplification of Customs rules and procedures to facilitate more efficient customs transactions in line with modern-day needs</li>
<li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Complete the move by Customs to a paperless and fully electronic environment</li>
<li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Reinforce swifter customs procedures for compliant and trustworthy economic operators (Authorised Economic Operators)</li>
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<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">Authorized Economic Operator</span></div>
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AEO is an internationally recognised quality mark which was introduced by the European Commission in 2008 and indicates that a business operates within a secure supply chain and that their internal controls and procedures are efficient and compliant. The Union Customs Code, as you can imagine, is a pretty detailed piece of legislation, and some would say (quite justifiably) that it is quite daunting and confusing, however what most customers really want to know is, should I be concerned about it, and do I need to do anything? Each customer’s situation is different of course but I will try to summarise the situation for the majority of importers below.</div>
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<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">Importers</span></div>
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If you are a typical UK importer and you import the goods into Free Circulation – that is, you pay the import duty & VAT when the goods are cleared and either retain the goods within the UK, or you sell them on to UK or EU customers, then you are unlikely to be affected by the UCC unless you operate your own Customs deferment account, where you defer any duties payable at the time of clearance and reimburse Customs once per month.<br />
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If you do, the UCC introduces the concept of financial guarantees for most actual and potential Customs debts in the form of the new Customs Comprehensive Guarantee (CCG)- however, as long as you do not make any changes to your deferment account (for example, making changes to the deferment account limit or the bank which guarantees the deferment account, the deferment account won’t be reassessed under the new terms and so you should not be affected.<br />
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If you operate any other Customs procedures such as Inward Processing, End Use, Outward Processing, Customs Warehousing, Temporary Admissions or claim 0% Preferential Import Duty, then the new Customs Comprehensive Guarantees will be required.<br />
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Let me just put something into context here, as many customers will be feeling a lot of pressure to now become an AEO. With AEO, there are 3 levels of certification, AEOC, AEOS and AEOF however there are presently only 399 AEOs in the UK, as the take up over the past few years has been very poor. Given that almost 50% of these are freight forwarders and there are 220,000 registered UK importers it is clear that the benefits of AEO have not been seen as worthwhile when compared to the time and effort involved in applying and maintaining AEO status. HMRC are also unlikely to be able to even process applications should large numbers of importers/exporters feel they must act however they have seen a rise in applications in the last 3 months.</div>
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<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">Exporters</span><br />
<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span>You will notice that I haven’t covered exporters in this summary and this is because, generally speaking, there is much less interest by HMRC generally in exports (as there’s less revenue/duty/VAT attached to exports, and in turn a lesser need for CCGs) and therefore the UCC is likely to have a limited impact on exports. Should you be a user of Inward Processing, then by default, you would be affected as an importer as you would process goods and then re-export and be covered as an importer in this article.</div>
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So to summarise, for the majority of importers.</div>
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<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">1. Importing goods to Home Use and do not have their own deferment account</span></div>
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Unless HMRC interfere with clearances for non-AEO companies (which is highly unlikely given that 99.9% of UK importers/exporters are non AEO status), they should see no change to the way their imports are processed however if they use Straightforward Consultancy (SCL) services for Customs compliance, this will be a great asset should they decide to opt for AEO status, as HMRC will want to see evidence of a proper process of Customs compliance, preferably for 3 years</div>
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<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">2. Importing goods to Home Use and have their own deferment account</span></div>
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Again, unless HMRC interfere with clearances for non-AEO companies, they should see no change to the way their imports are processed however if they make any changes to their deferment guarantee, they will need to set up a Customs Comprehensive Guarantee (CCG). If they use Straightforward Consultancy (SCL) services for Customs compliance, this will be a great asset should they decide to opt for AEO status, as HMRC will want to see evidence of a proper process of Customs compliance, preferably for 3 years. Customs are also saying that if a customer becomes an AEO, they will benefit from a 70% reduction in the guarantee amount.</div>
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nb - If you operate SIVA (Simplified Import VAT Accounting), where you use this system to reduce the amount of the guarantee you have lodged with HMRC (just to cover the duty) then you can continue to use SIVA in its current guise until your term expires.</div>
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<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">3. Importing goods to other Customs regimes, such as Inward Processing, End Use, Outward Processing, Customs Warehousing, Temporary Admissions or claim 0% Preferential Import Duty </span></div>
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The arrival of the UCC will definitely affect you, as the new Customs Comprehensive Guarantees will be required and for example, if you already have an IP Undertaking which is due to expire after 1st May 2016, then this will be valid until expiry unless you make any changes to it.</div>
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I hope that this has been useful and gives you a pretty concise overview on what is happening with the Union Customs Code, and more importantly, how it may affect you. Of course, this is a concise summary and reflects our personal opinion of the changes and far more detail sits within the Customs notices and, we hope, within the update on 31st March. I also attach a link to the last official update from HMRC in October 2015.</div>
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<a data-mce-href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/introduction-of-the-union-customs-code-ucc" href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/introduction-of-the-union-customs-code-ucc" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/introduction-of-the-union-customs-code-ucc</a></div>
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Please do contact me if you require any guidance or clarification.</div>
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Please follow me on Twitter @AndyCliffSCL, visit our website <a data-mce-href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/" href="http://www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.straightforwardconsultancy.co.uk</a> and our blog <a data-mce-href="http://straightforwardconsultancy.blogspot.co.uk/" href="http://straightforwardconsultancy.blogspot.co.uk/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://straightforwardconsultancy.blogspot.co.uk/</a></div>
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<em>Andy Cliff is an industry professional who launched his own logistics consultancy, Straightforward Consultancy Ltd (SCL) after a 30 year career in international logistics, working for companies such as DB Schenker, Kuehne & Nagel and DHL Global Forwarding in operational, sales and management roles.</em> <img alt="" class="left" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAhoAAAAJDI4MGQzYWU4LWM3MGQtNGYwZC04ZDBkLTJiMGRlZGZhZTdmMw.jpg" height="307" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAhoAAAAJDI4MGQzYWU4LWM3MGQtNGYwZC04ZDBkLTJiMGRlZGZhZTdmMw.jpg" style="float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 30px; margin-right: 30px; margin-top: 30px; max-width: 100%;" width="307" /></div>
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<em style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 18px;">Andy felt that in an increasingly complex and confusing world of logistics, small-medium sized UK importers and exporters needed a company alongside them which could help them to reduce costs, lessen their workload and provide expert advice and support day-to-day. </em><br />
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<span style="color: black; line-height: normal;"><span style="border: 1pt none; color: #232629; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 17.12px; padding: 0cm;"><i>Andy is part of the judging panel for the 2016 Global Freight Awards, his second year in this prestigious role. The awards recognize quality, innovation and performance in the field of international logistics. </i></span></span><br />
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Andy Cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10531284655891119561noreply@blogger.com0