Brexit Readiness Checker: 10 minutes that could save your business

Emer O’Byrne, of Enterprise Ireland’s Brexit Unit, urges businesses to avail of free online supports. She talks to Joe Dermody

It’s not too late to get Brexit-ready

January 1 will see the most fundamental change in Ireland’s trading relationship with the UK and companies need to use the final weeks to ensure they are prepared.

So says Emer O’Byrne, senior executive with Enterprise Ireland’s Brexit unit.

“This has been a difficult, challenging year for Irish businesses. An immense amount of time and energy has been deployed to respond to the impact of Covid-19. However, Irish business is also responding to the other enormous challenge that will happen in just two weeks’ time, when Brexit becomes a reality.”

From January 1st, companies that move goods to, from or through the UK (excluding Northern Ireland) will be faced with new customs procedures and they need to prepare for them now.”

Fortunately, it’s not too late to get Brexit-ready. Enterprise Ireland has developed a Brexit Readiness Checker that’s available on www.prepareforbrexit.com. The Readiness Checker provides a framework that simply outlines the steps that need to be taken to be ready for Brexit and signposts actions that every company should take in the coming weeks.

“Companies need up-to-date, accessible information about what they need to do in relation to Brexit. That’s why we developed the Brexit Readiness Checker. It takes ten to fifteen minutes to complete and is simple and straightforward.

“When you have completed our online tool, you will receive by email a personalised plan for your company as to what you need to do. Not only will you be given a plan, you will also be told where to go to get more information and what supports are available.

“We often say this is not the time to panic, this is the time to act and the Brexit Readiness Checker gives companies the tools and information they need to take action.”

So, what are the most important steps businesses need to take?

“The first thing is to get your EORI (economic operator registration identification) number. That is what is going to allow you to import or export with countries outside the EU. You get the number by going to the Irish Revenue online site.”

The second step is to find out the commodity code for your product or products. This classifies goods into different commodity groups. It’s really important to have. You will need it for all of your customs documentation.”

The third most important step is to identify who is going to manage your company’s customs procedure.

Ms O’Byrne says that recent Enterprise Ireland analysis indicates that only 36% of companies have decided who is going to look after the customs procedures.

“That figure should be higher. If you haven’t done so, now is the time to figure out who is going to manage customs procedures and paperwork for you, whether in-house — which will require training up or hiring of staff — or via a broker.

Emer O'Byrne.

“Decide who is going to do your customs declarations, in order to get the goods off this island and received into Great Britain.

“Decide too how you are going to pay customs duty. There are both deferred and pay as you go options, but if you go for the deferred scheme, you’ll need to have an account with Revenue, so sort that now, she urges.

Freight and logistics companies will be under pressure so the sooner you talk to them, the better.

Don’t be satisfied with simple assurances.

“If your freight company is not asking for a lot of data from you, there is something wrong. Businesses will need to have detailed conversations with the people who provide the service. These conversations need to happen now, not when issues arise or shipments are disrupted,” Emer O’Byrne cautions.

Enterprise Ireland has grants available for companies that decide to manage customs procedures in-house.

“Our Ready for Customs grant is an important support for business. Where a company takes on a new employee to manage their customs procedures full-time they can avail of up to €9,000 to assist with recruitment costs, employee costs or the provision of IT infrastructure. If an existing employee is deployed into a customs role the grant can also be used to cover costs associated with that change.

The application process for the grant is straightforward. If companies are recruiting or redeploying five staff to deal with customs then they can apply for the grant for each employee. A reduced grant is available for people engaged in customs work part-time.

The financial support is not just for companies engaged with business activity with and through the UK. It is also proving very attractive for companies in the freight and haulage sector who will manage a large amount of the customs procedures for their clients.

The Ready for Customs grant is just one of the supports offered by Enterprise Ireland to assist companies in a post Brexit trading environment. Other supports focus on market diversification, enhancing competitiveness and securing advice from market and trade experts. Information on all these supports is available on www.prepareforbrexit.com

Ms O’Byrne also emphasised that other government agencies offer supports for companies, such as the Clear Customs training course provided by SkillNet Ireland and the Prepare Your Business for Customs course available through the Local Enterprise Office.

She says that come January 1, we will be in a new trading environment with the UK.

“The UK is a major trading partner for Ireland. We have business and customer relationships that, in many cases, have been built up over decades. Trade between our islands is vital and will continue to be important to the Irish economy for years to come. That is why we need to prepare for the new trading landscape. I would urge every company to act now — advice and support is available but you need to take the first step.”

“At this stage businesses need to focus on the essentials. Secure your EORI number, determine the commodity codes for your product, identify who will manage your customs procedures and how you will pay customs charges.

“With these actions completed businesses can successfully navigate the major changes to trade with Great Britain that will be a reality come 1st January 2021.”