As you are no doubt aware, the Brexit Transition period ended at 23:00 GMT on 31/12/2020. At this time, new rules relating to the movement of goods between the UK and EU came into effect and have subsequently created delays at customs.
We have been working closely with our logistics partners to ensure business continuity and to provide the high level of service you expect from Ricoh. Our dedicated Brexit committee has been appointed since 2018 and in this context our shipping controller is monitoring all deliveries to assist with smooth transition.
For our customers based within Great Britain there has been little to no disruption as Ricoh 3D provides services as normal from our UK facilities.
For European clients, customs clearance will now be required for all goods moving between the UK and the EU from today (20 May 2021). Here at Ricoh we have taken a number of steps to reduce the burden, such as declaring the goods we are sending by completing a commercial invoice including all of the information required by authorities. We have also moved to UPS Paperless™ Invoice to minimise administrative delays.
Our solution is to ship goods to you via UPS under DAP (Delivered At Place) incoterms – meaning that Ricoh is responsible for all costs associated with getting the goods to your premises, except customs duties and taxes in the EU. You will be able to claim back VAT charges in a similar way to the reverse charge mechanism, which your accounts function will be familiar with. Under these incoterms, Ricoh 3D will be responsible for the export customs clearance in the UK but it will be your responsibility to act as the Importer in the EU.
This requires a couple of steps, both of which may already be in place as part of your own shipping practices. Having a UPS account isn’t mandatory but something we strongly recommend to help expedite the process, if you aren’t registered with UPS already.
Register for an EORI number
Every company will need to have on Economic Operator’s Registration and Identification number per legal entity which will be used for customs in every EU country. An EORI number can be requested from your local customs website. Please provide this number to the Ricoh 3D team to update shipping records.
Identify on the customs declaration that you are the Importer Of Record (IOR)
The IOR must be an EU-based entity responsible and liable for your customs declarations. Creating the import customs declaration can either be done by yourself through UPS or via another customs agent of your choosing. In order to support the filing of the required import declaration, we will provide you (and UPS) with the invoice documentation containing all of the relevant information for import clearance as soon as possible after dispatch.
We want to reassure you that we are doing everything in our power to manage the impact on our customers. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any issues and we will notify the relevant parties to act swiftly on your behalf.
If you have any further questions in the meantime we are here to help.