Expansion of Rotterdam Logistics Center

Brexit-Update: What you need to know

While the trade negotiations between the UK and the European Union continue to make slow progress, the month of June provided the last opportunity for the British government to extend the transitional period, which is currently limited to 31 December 2020. With no request for extension having been made, the focus is now on a gradual introduction of customs controls in the United Kingdom from January 1, 2021. The transition period is designed to allow traders to recover from the effects of COVID-19 and prepare for the new requirements. The United Kingdom will be subject to full customs control at its borders by 1 July 2021.

Earlier this year, the UK government took steps to eliminate certain customs facilitations, including the Transitional Simplified Procedures (TSP) and the Import VAT (PVA) shift. However, the British government has recognized that customs relief will also be necessary, at least temporarily, on January 1, 2021.

Thus, the possibility of shifting the import turnover tax is to be reintroduced. In addition, for a transitional period, there will be a customs procedure which will allow the imported goods to be declared by entering them in the accounts within a period of six months, rather than immediately upon importation. This procedure is called "Deferred Declaration".

An EU summit meeting for final talks between Great Britain and the EU will take place from 17 to 18 October 2020. Finally, on 19 October 2020 the results of a "deal or no-deal" scenario should be available. 

Regardless of the outcome of the talks, it is expected that from January 2021 onwards all goods exported to and from the UK will require tariff treatment, albeit during the transitional period described above as part of a process graduated by product group.

The following link will take you to a tool that outlines the required measures: https://www.gov.uk/transition

The UK government has also published details of preparation as an importer and exporter from/to the UK, which can be viewed via the links below: 

https://www.gov.uk/prepare-to-import-to-great-britain-from-january-2021

https://www.gov.uk/prepare-to-export-from-great-britain-from-january-2021

Further information can be found in the download document below.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact your local contact at the relevant DACHSER branch.

New regulatory requirements for lithium batteries and cells as of January 1, 2020

Before lithium batteries and cells can be transported, they must pass certain tests. These tests simulate various conditions with regard to, for example, pressure, temperature, crushing and impact that may arise during shipping.

On January 1, 2020, more stringent requirements concerning lithium batteries and cells will come into effect for all modes of transport worldwide. In future, a test summary compliant with UN 38.3.5 must be submitted for all lithium batteries and cells manufactured after June 30, 2003 (i.e. UN3480, UN3481, UN3091, UN3090), as well as for all battery-powered vehicles manufactured after June 30, 2003 (i.e. UN 3171). Doing so will be the joint responsibility of the manufacturers and the distributors of these goods.

According to the airlines, carriers and shipping companies, these documents can be requested from DACHSER. We therefore kindly ask our customers to make these documents available to us for all the lithium batteries and cells mentioned, so that we can, in turn, make them available throughout the entire supply chain. We hereby inform our customers that, as of January 1, 2020, it will no longer be possible to load the affected goods without these documents. For further information, please click here.

Shipping cars from Thailand to Bangladesh

DACHSER has recently completed the first batch of a Roll-on/ Roll-off (RoRo) shipment: 40 out of 270 cars were transported by vessel from the manufacturer in Thailand to the dealer in Bangladesh.

DACHSER moved a giant shipment of medical supplies to French hospitals

DACHSER Air & Sea Logistics organized a gigantic shipment of emergency medical supplies from Shanghai, China all the way to local hospitals in France.