As part of my business’s preparation for Brexit, I attended an excellent course specifically organised by Maltese Customs to help local businesses learn how to submit customs declarations for their products. This program gave me a first-hand experience of what Brexit will really mean for businesses.
Colleagues attending the course were all coming from companies which are tied to a particular product which is solely produced in the UK. To demonstrate the effect on other products, alternative supply chains from EU member states which are not facing uncertainty because of Brexit were chosen. This means that there is going to be a significant trade diversion from the UK with obvious implications for job losses in the country. This trade diversion may not have started yet as we are still awaiting the day Brexit will actually occur.
For companies which are constrained to continue buying from the UK, life will not be an easy feat. New customs procedures will add pressure on human resources to get the necessary paperwork done. It is also pertinent to note that with regards to food products, customs rates are calculated on the basis of the ingredients used to produce the product, namely milk content therefore recipes will have to be sought from suppliers.
To make matters worse, Michel Barnier, the EU’s Brexit negotiator, is warning businesses to prepare for a no-deal scenario whereby trading with the UK will be far more expensive as tariffs will be higher than those rates applied to countries with which the EU has a bilateral trading agreement.
Business cash flow will also be affected as customs duties and VAT will have to be paid as soon as products enter Malta. At the end of the day, this will affect us all as we will be forced to pay higher prices for our favourite British products which we have grown accustomed to.
All of this made me think about how distant UK politicians are from their electorate. The political class in the UK is one which does not care about the consequences of its decisions. Due to this instability, businesses will lose market shares which will inevitably result in job losses. If the UK political class had any real ties to their manufacturing companies, the country would definitely not be in the situation it is today.
On the other hand, I criticize British politicians knowing that unfortunately, we have similar politicians in Malta. Anyone who is capable of appearing in a media production which despises Malta must really have no idea what it means to be in business and having to earn your living your employees' income everyday. Both Roberta Metsola and David Casa were civil servants before plunging into politics. For them earning a living is as simple as turning up for work.
The sheer arrogance of Casa saying he was responsible for the closure of Pilatus Bank, all the while boasting a power over financial institutions which is not his. I wonder, does he even think of the repercussions these statements have on prospective investors
For the rest of us in the private sector, the smear campaign launched on Maltese institutions was gut wrenching knowing it could jeopardize our daily living. We need politicians who understand what it means to run a business. We need doers not blabbers.
Fleur Vella is an MERP candidate for the Labour Party