Jersey Post has a significant number of eCommerce clients that rely on a fast, cost-effective dispatch route from Jersey to mainland Europe. In 2018, Jersey Post handled 4.7m items on behalf of Jersey-based eCommerce clients, 4.2m (90%) of which were destined for dispatch within Europe.

The UK’s impending exit from the European Union will impact the current route that these postal items take when they leave Jersey. At present, all items destined for European delivery leave Jersey and travel north to the UK before accessing Europe via the Channel Tunnel. These items travel as post, which means that they benefit from simplified customs clearance procedures because of Jersey Post’s bilateral agreements with other Universal Postal Union member states. Once Brexit is realised this will become a congested route with risks of considerable delays because of the additional potential border crossing controls, customs clearance and subsequent delays that will jeopardise eCommerce supplier agreements.

In light of the foreseen post-Brexit complications, Jersey Post has recently undertaken a trial with Ferryspeed and Condor Ferries, where a consignment destined for Holland was shipped to St Malo, securely stored overnight before then being Customs cleared and shipped by road to Holland the following day. These items successfully arrived in Holland the next morning, meaning the complete process took just 48 hours door-to-door. This model gives Jersey Post a reliable base to work from over the next few weeks to ensure a robust and resilient solution.

Niall McClure, Jersey Post’s Managing Director for Postal and Logistics, said: “With the level of uncertainty surrounding Brexit showing no sign of slowing, we’ve been working tirelessly to provide our clients with alternative routes into Europe. Whatever the implications of Brexit, we’re confident that we will have solutions in place that will enable locally-based eCommerce businesses to trade freely with EU customers.”

There is also the potential for Jersey Post to access certain French airports direct from Jersey, which could provide a next-day or even same-day mail service for documents and correspondence; something which could be of real interest to financial and legal operations based in Jersey.

While these routes are being investigated and tested, Jersey Post has also engaged with key contacts at Deutsche Post, German Customs, La Poste and French Customs (France and Germany being the largest current export destination for Jersey Post). This has provided useful insight into related key topics, which will help Jersey Post to plan ahead of the final Brexit deadline further.

Jersey has the opportunity to act as a forward base for exports into Europe, something Jersey post has been doing for over a decade.

Source: Jersey Post