Yes, this is just about wine, but it serves to highlight what a ludicrous, category one mess-up Brexit is and always will be. Ed
I think it’s time for a reminder of the reason why you the consumer are continually screwed over by the elites in the UK. As a front line business exposed to border controls I see the direct effect of Brexit daily. But they’re not finished with this shit show. So here we go…
Firstly, the actual vote was advisory and therefore did not have all the normal restrictions applied, but, even so, the electoral commission advised that the result was unsafe and illegal. But that doesn’t matter, because Cameron ran away only to get a peerage six years later.
Then Brexit happened with a terrible deal just seven days before implementation. Nobody really had time to react to get all their ducks in a row. 16 days after Brexit, the head of HMRC called me to apologise for the EU tariff code U110 not being applied to the import portal.
Brokers and transportation companies rapidly worked out they could charge whatever they liked for import documents as the vast majority had no idea how the new regime worked, many small and medium-sized businesses today still don’t and have either gone bust or pay well over the odds to have stock.
Then the government tried to introduce the stupid Vi1 restrictions on wine and after eight months of lies and bullshit scrapped the law. However tee-totaler Sunak (who has zero clue about wine) changed the excise rules, which worked fine for decades, to an unworkable model.
The model is so unworkable the government realised the new system was crap, so kicked the can down the road and continued with the old system, effectively, and called it an easement. This was to allow wine businesses time to know the ABV (alcohol by volume) of wines that have been made… yes I know.
Then we have the new Labour government which, to date, refuses to say whether it will implement the unworkable system or continue with the easement (old proven system which worked for decades) and thus importers are now working blind for stock being shipped from the opposite side of the world.
I get there are big problems in the world and that shit happens, but wine legislation and this whole shit show has been mismanaged for seven years now. For something so simple as excise duty the government must really hate wine drinkers. The costs keep building.
Come February, we have the organic laws kick in, where only licensed organic importers can import organic wines, and remember: I must stock my organic bottles of wine separately from non-organic bottles. Utter nonsense again.
But, more worryingly, the easement ceases unless the new government actually makes a decision to keep it. If they don’t, it’s another steep increase for wine prices as the industry will have another tier of red tape to deal with.
Now remember – Brexit was sold on the idea of less bureaucracy and red tape, which is odd because in the last six years we have seen nothing but red tape increase and it’s all been created in the UK. None of this administration adds value, but boy does it add cost!
Finally, remember that EU membership meant one document for movements: the EAD: the export accompanying document. Today there are the following. Proforma, EU EAD, EX1, CDS, UK EMCS, licensing for Port badges, GBWK, EORI, Excise number, and finally W5D to clear it into the retail market. What a lot of bollocks!
Wine is the most consumed alcoholic drink in the UK. This is a fact. It’s also taxed twice – another fact. The government desperately needs the revenue from wine, but it has literally made it more and more difficult for wine businesses to trade, and the result is lower revenue for all.
