UK Freight Forwarders Demand Budget Action on Border Delays and 2026 CDS Switch
UK freight forwarders are demanding the Chancellor cut border costs and avert a 2026 customs cliff-edge, warning that repeated data entry, patchy digital links, and a widening skills gap are eroding export competitiveness. Freight Sector Presses Treasury to Ease Post-Brexit Costs The British International Freight Association (BIFA) has delivered an unusually blunt pre-Budget plea, arguing that every extra minute a truck idles at the port or duplicate form a clerk completes translates into lost export orders. With 200,000 people employed in freight forwarding and customs brokerage, the sector handles more than 90 % of Britain’s visible trade, yet executives say margins have fallen for three straight years as post-Brexit paperwork volumes have doubled. “We are now the unofficial tax collectors of global trade,” one BIFA council member said, pointing to the £7 billion in customs duties the Treasury collected last year through freight intermediaries. Duplicate Data Entry Drains Small Business Margins Forwarders complain that a single shipment can require identical product codes, weight data, and proof-of-origin documents to be keyed into as many as five government portals—HMRC, DEFRA, Food Standards Agency, Port Health, and the port community system. Each re-entry carries a £25–£40 processing fee when outsourced, a cost small exporters cannot pass on to overseas buyers. BIFA wants Treasury funds to speed the “Tell-Us-Once” digital platform promised in the 2025 Border Target Operating Model, allowing one reference number to populate all agencies instantly. Until then, SME forwarders estimate they spend 14 staff hours per week re-typing data already cleared at one checkpoint. Skills Gap Threatens CDS Roll-Out Customs declaration filings have jumped 46 % since 2021, but the number of accredited customs professionals has grown only 7 %, leaving a 3,500-person shortfall, according to the Institute of Export. Entry-level salaries for declarants have risen above £32,000 outside London, yet training colleges report half-empty classrooms because course fees can top £1,400. BIFA is asking the Treasury to extend apprenticeship levy rules so freight firms can reclaim 100 % of tuition costs for customs qualifications, up from the current 95 % cap. Without rapid up-skilling, industry modelling suggests the 2026 switch from CHIEF to CDS could leave 30 % of low-value consignments stuck in temporary storage while brokers race to re-key declarations. Warehouse Rates and Fuel Duty Compound Cost Squeeze While global container spot rates have fallen 18 % year-on-year, UK warehouse rents have surged 12 % and business-rate revaluations have added up to 35 % to logistics-site tax bills in ports such as Felixstowe and Immingham. Fuel now accounts for 28 % of road-haulage operating cost, and the sector fears the Treasury will end the 5 pence-per-litre duty freeze in place since 2022. BIFA’s Budget submission asks for a three-year extension of the freeze plus a new “Freeport Rates Relief” allowing firms inside tax sites to discount warehouse rates by 50 % for staff training floors and customs examination areas. 2026 CHIEF Shutdown Looms Over Unprepared SMEs The final shutdown of the 30-year-old CHIEF mainframe—delayed twice—will force roughly 56,000 traders to use the cloud-based Customs Declaration Service. Large forwarders have spent upwards of £250,000 on CDS middleware, yet BIFA surveys show 42 % of companies with fewer than 25 employees have not opened a CDS test badge. The association wants Treasury cash for a “CS Sandbox” grant that pays 80 % of software-integration costs up to £15,000 per SME, mirroring support offered during the Making Tax Digital roll-out. Failure to cushion the transition, executives warn, could replicate the September 2022 Dover queues when unprepared hauliers were turned away for missing safety-security declarations. Actionable Steps Ahead of 2026 Customs Switch Audit every client’s GB Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number for CDS compatibility. Book at least two staff onto HMRC’s free online CDS webinars this quarter; download the test declaration pack. Map which of your shipments currently use CHIEF-only procedure codes and ask software vendors for CDS-equivalent workflows. Join BIFA’s CDS working group to receive updated Treasury guidance and template contingency letters for customers. Useful Resources HMRC CDS Toolkit – Step-by-step videos and procedure-code lookup tables updated weekly. BIFA Training Calendar – Customs-level-3 certificate courses eligible for levy funding. Port Community System User Forums – Free webinars on integrating CDS with port inventory systems. Source: British International Freight Association
