Germany’s logistics company temporarily suspends UK deliveries over Brexit red tape

The bureaucratic hurdles brought on by Brexit has caused German logistics company DB Schenker to temporarily suspend deliveries from the European Union to Britain, reports AFP.

Releasing a statement, the transport giant said they were facing “considerable problems” in customs formalities in the movement of goods between the UK and EU.

The company said that only “around 10%” of deliveries were accompanied by the complete and correct paperwork.

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Owned by Germany’s state-owned rail giant Deutsche Bahn, DB Schenker said they had trained their staff to deal with Brexit issues but “every shipment that is not properly documented delays the delivery of entire loads”. Shipments that are not fully declared cannot be delivered, it said.

The German-based company is hoping an increase in the volume of shipments in January, but said they can only process these quickly only complete paperwork. “Both the sender and the recipient have a duty to provide compliant documents for this purpose,” read the statement.

It said deliveries already posted will continue to be transported as quickly as possible.

The post-Brexit trade agreement concluded on Christmas Eve ended the free movement of goods between the EU and Britain.

DB Schenker handles around half a million shipments from continental Europe to the UK every year.