MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th February, 2021) Two in three supply chain managers experienced delays in bringing goods into the United Kingdom in February, with the majority of the hold ups blamed on new customs paperwork established following the country's exit from the EU's single market and customs union, according to a fresh survey conducted by the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) that was published on Wednesday.
In a poll of 350 supply chain managers, 63 percent said they had experienced delays of two to three days on goods entering the United Kingdom, up from 38 percent in January.
Nearly six in 10 businesses said that delays in February were longer than in the preceding month, including 30 percent who said that the hold ups were "significantly longer."
"We are well into the second month of the new arrangements and the hope that delays at the border would reduce as freight volumes returned to normal and customs systems became used to the new processes has not come to pass," John Glen, an economist at CIPS, said in a press release accompanying the survey.
Additionally, 44 percent of exporters said that they were experiencing delays of two to three days on goods leaving the United Kingdom for the European Union, CIPS said.
Roughly half of the delays were caused by new customs paperwork that is required on both sides of the border following the UK's exit from the EU's customs union and single market at the start of the year, according to the survey.
The UK left the European Union on January 31, 2020, although the country remained in the bloc's single market and customs union for a further 11 months as negotiators in London and Brussels attempted to reach a wide-ranging free trade deal.
