The situation regarding Brexit is still unclear and with the 29th fast approaching the chances of a no deal Brexit are still very real. The Post Office were advising attaching a CN22 on Brexit mail from this week.
Currently it would appear that there are two options – if the Prime Minister gets her deal approved then Brexit will be delayed until the 22 of May 2019. If the deal isn’t approved then Brexit will be delayed until the 12th of April. Or the whole thing could be shelved and Brexit cancelled by revoking Article 50. What’s pretty certain is that we won’t be leaving the EU this coming Friday the 29th of March.
The Post Office now appear to have thrown in the towel and stopped giving advice on Brexit. They previously had a couple of useful pages on their website, one simply title “Brexit” and another “Brexit update impact on mails“. Both pages have been deleted over the weekend.
Previously the Post Office had advised that a CN22 would be required for EU countries from today, Monday 25th March
“At this moment in time the outcome of Brexit remains unclear. If there is no agreement between the UK and the EU, customers sending goods to the EU should be asked to complete a customs declaration form from Monday 25 March. This will ensure all items have the relevant documentation by 29 March should the UK leave the EU on this date.”
– The Post Office (now deleted)
What is clear is that the Post Office believes that you should start completing a CN22 on Brexit mail in advance of whenever (if) we leave the EU. This means that in the event of customs checks being introduced, outgoing parcels will still get through.
Edited to add:
The Post Office says that the page in question provided advice to its branches based on the original Brexit date of 29th March. This was correct at time of writing. However, the content is now being updated. CN22s are not currently required when sending items to EU destinations.
What happens if you attach a CN22 on Brexit mail and Brexit is delayed/cancelled?
Attaching a CN22 on Brexit mail won’t have any effect should Brexit be further delayed or not take place at all. The mail will simply fly through with no checks and that’s also the expected position if there is an interim deal agreed and put in place. However, be prepared to start attaching a CN22 on Brexit mail if it looks likely that we’ll be leaving in a no deal situation.
While no one wants to do needless paperwork, ensuring that your workflow is at least capable of producing CN22s for EU countries would appear to be a wise move.
One Response
Our post office received an e-mail yesterday saying that this has been put hold for now.