The usual exploiter bearing will be introduced on April 30 , 2024 , for commercial movement of animal products , plants , and works products through the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel . This was announced by the UK administration on April 3 . point out on this annunciation , James Barnes , HTA Chairman , said :
" While it is welcome that it has at last been publish , the Common User Charge ( CUC ) declaration at the eleventh hr affirm our fears that in just one month , UK gardening ’s competitiveness will be again polish off by a cost hike for no substantial gain . 90 % of our growers import plant life at some point of the growing oscillation . nigh 100 % are SMEs and , in hypothesis , subject to 100 % checks and charges . Today , they have near 0 % approach to the alleviation or alternatives to BCP usage .
" The CUC will levy a fee for every consignment eligible for review that get in Great Britain via the short straits route , no matter of whether the consignment is inspected at the Sevington Border Control Point ( BCP ) . The fee is a user fee and will be turn on at a rate of £ 29 per commodity credit line , capped at £ 145 per IPAFFS prenotification for all high and medium - risk commodity ( i.e. , plants , seeds , bulbs & cut bloom ) . Our sector typically has multiple commodity stock per consignment , meaning , in realism , businesses in our sphere will be paying the £ 145 maximum heraldic bearing . This will be a vast unexampled cost loading for many , hitting SMEs heavily , particularly those using groupage . We are now working with our member to understand the details and impact of the announcement . In due course , we expect to see port operator running commercial BCPs , who have also been look this announcement , to apportion more information on their charges .
" While it is a relief that we at last have the headlines of the CUC , we await further detail and guidance . Developed without a full year of rich data arrange to determine truthful cost - recovery calculations , it is a policy that experience like it is constructed on the back of an gasbag at well . Anyone who understands the time of year and the fundamental principle of nature will know what and how much we spell differs throughout the year , hence the criticality of an annual data arrange on which to ground this policy . As a sector expecting to be the high exploiter of BCPs , a bulk of which are SMEs already experiencing wide-eyed increased toll pressure , we had sought an early announcement for business planning and foregone conclusion , a simple and symmetrical access per phytosanitary certificate .
" The CUC , while critical , is just one part of the jigsaw of the April border change , a puzzle that is far from clear . BCPs do not have the potentiality to handle many of our lode , have alone the volumes , and we have no detail on the so - called hardheaded approach path . The pragmatic approach lacks any public point or communication to give confidence or certainty that the lack of capacity or capability of BCPs to handle plant will not stimulate irreparable damage to an industry hit by extraordinary cost hikes this fountain . This CUC announcement and border changes add up at the bad time . The accusation will doubtlessly increase costs , potentially reduce consumer choice , and increase the likelihood of empty shelves , thereby bear upon biodiversity and see our res publica ’s environmental target area . "
More details are on the Government site : https://www.gov.uk / guidance / rough-cut - user - charge - rates - and - eligibility
For more entropy : Horticultural Trades Associationwww.the-hta.org.uk
Frontpage photo : © Sirikul Thirasuntrakul | Dreamstime
