At the turn of the year, the United Kingdom became a non-EU country. The change affected the day-to-day operations of many Finnish companies, as goods imported and exported between Finland and the United Kingdom had to be cleared through customs from the beginning of the year. However, increased customs clearance was offset by a decline in foreign trade in goods last year. The effects on foreign trade were clearly visible in January, when Customs’ foreign trade statistics showed that exports of goods from Finland to the United Kingdom fell by more than 20 per cent and imports fell by more than 50 per cent.
“Imports from small and specialized companies in particular have fallen sharply. Most exports are made by larger companies that already know their way in terms of customs formalities. January’s trade with the UK declined due to Brexit, but also due to December stocks, says Olli-Pekka Penttilä, Director of Statistics.
Brexit doubled customer contacts
Brexit increased the need for customer service provided by customs – the number of customer contacts increased by more than 60 percent compared to last year. To facilitate the transfer of customers, Customs collected information and guides from Brexit on the Finnish Customs website, and a Brexit helpline was launched to help with changes in the customs clearance process. The new formalities raised the most questions.
“Currently, companies in particular need advice on declaring goods and using different customs procedures. Importers have clearly needed our customer advisors the most, especially with regard to the origin of the goods. Because of Brexit, we have had a lot of customer contacts from new corporate customers who have no previous experience in customs matters, says Tom Ferm, Director of Customer Relations and Tax Collection.
Against this background, preparations for Britain’s withdrawal from the EU required extensive changes to customs information systems; development and testing began well in advance. After all, the transition did not cause disruptions in the systems. Customs also worked closely with various authorities and organized many stakeholder meetings to inform customers of factors affecting customs clearance.
In customs control, special attention was paid to shipments of medicines
In customs control, the transition was softened by the dramatic decline in traffic and passengers caused by COVID restrictions. At the turn of the year, passenger flights between Finland and the United Kingdom were sometimes suspended, which particularly affected postal items.
“Overall, the Brexit process has gone smoothly with regard to customs controls. We have paid particular attention to medicines sent by post or express, for example. From the beginning of 2021, medicines will no longer be available for mail from the UK. Mikko Grönberg, Executive Director.
Law enforcement co-operation on legal and administrative assistance requests and information exchange has continued smoothly through existing channels. During the Brexit process, bilateral customs co-operation between Finland and the United Kingdom has been facilitated by a UK customs liaison officer.
“Our co-operation with Great Britain has a long tradition, and Great Britain is an important and useful partner for Finnish customs also in law enforcement,” says Jussi Hulkkonen, Head of the International Affairs Unit of the Enforcement Unit.
Source: Finnish Customs