It is estimated that around 50,000 new customs agents will be required to process declarations after Brexit. However the UK government is currently falling short of this target.
The UK Government is currently in discussion to create a new customs agent academy to ensure that the capacity is available.
Robert Keen, Director-General of BIFA (British International Freight Association) has said that as of June 2020 they have currently trained 1,298 people but the number of new enrolments has dropped due to the coronavirus. The new trainees are typically existing customs experts who are taking advantage of grants to enhance skills.
The Institute of Export and International Trade has trained around 870 new agents via its online customs academy.
It is estimated that an additional 200 million customs declarations will be made in 2021 by around 240,000 businesses importing to the UK and exporting to the EU.
Richard Burnett, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association, said
"It is impossible to think we can train this number of people, get them ready and processes in place to be ready on the first of January."
We can help you with your customs declarations with our new CustomsLink service. If you would like to find out more about our solutions, contact our Freightlink Reload team.