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Truck in the port of Dover (archive picture): “Incredibly” demanding paperwork
Photo: Gareth Fuller / dpa
The ongoing trade problems after Brexit continue to bother small exporters in the UK.
According to a survey, almost every fourth company (23 percent) has stopped its exports to the European Union, as the industry association Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) announced on Monday.
Four percent would have already completely given up their EU business, ten percent would consider doing so.
Some exporters were planning to establish a presence in an EU country or had already done so.
Every tenth company is considering building storage capacity outside the UK.
Three months after the final Brexit, exporters would continue to have problems with "incredibly demanding, unusual paperwork," said FSB boss Mike Cherry.
"What should be teething troubles now threatens to become permanent, systemic problems." Larger companies would have the necessary resources.
But smaller traders would have to consider whether exports are worth the effort.
Great Britain had also left the EU internal market and the customs union on January 1st.
Despite a commercial contract, customs duties and the preparation of necessary documents have been causing long delays since then.
For a good third (36 percent) of importers or exporters, the delay lasted more than two weeks, according to the survey.
mik / dpa-AFX
