Brexit: tell us your consumer concerns

This would seem to be just the same as personal imports from anywhere else in the world and a known result of leaving the EU.

I agree. This was well flagged-up as a consequence of leaving the single market. We can’t have it both ways.

Some people grudgingly accept the customs charges and/or taxes imposed on imports but resent the fees due to the carriers for collection and remittance of them to HMRC. Such transactions require time and administration both of which cost companies money for no profit.

I think it is good that the Government have acted to restrict tax avoidance by GB consumers if they shop mail order anywhere overseas.

But I’m still waiting to see if the Government will do any to combat tax avoidance by large multinationals.

Some consumers may also find that these new arrangements now restrict their available choices as Internet shoppers. I’ve seen several recent examples of both US and EU firms that will no longer directly supply UK consumers, because the new rules require too much effort for little return on their part.

It would be interesting to see what essential items are involved that cannot be purchased through a normal retail channel.

Malcolm, I expect that the majority of GB consumers will still be able to buy what they need.

But I cannot help but think that reducing consumer choice and increasing prices are anything but disbenefits of Brexit.

Yes. I’d like to see a popular move towards this. Good for the economy and good for jobs. Maybe Which? could promote decent UK made products in their news items and reviews.
I don’t remember seeing anything essential when people complained about the extra costs of importing goods from the USA but I may have missed them.

Personally, I am all in favour of buying from GB firms whenever I can.

But sometimes, specialist items are not available at competitive prices or even at all from GB suppliers.

Pre-Brexit, one example was a replacement UK style keyboard for a Acer laptop that I was repairing. The nearest supllier to me was in Poland. Once ordered, their product reached me very swiftly, faster than the typical speed from UK suppliers.

For me, the cost of essential spares does affect the sustainability of items. I do like to be able to repair items, but only if I can obtain spares at sensible prices.

In the past, I have come across quite a few who have made personal imports from the USA “because of rip off Britain”. In such cases, UK prices in pounds were often the same as USA prices in dollars and a strong pound favoured the economics of such trades.

As far as I know the only item I have bought directly from a foreign seller was a spare part for a generator belonging to a charity I’m a member of. It cost £4.60 from a Chinese seller. Had I bought the part from a UK source it would have cost between four and five times as much. There are limits.

I take Derek’s point about sustainability and in the case I have referred to the cost of the spare part from the UK seller would be almost as much as our society had paid for the generator, which is old but is now in good working order. The alternative would have been to scrap it.

The NHS is a huge spender on equipment, supplies and provisions. I should like to think that there is a big enough market there to enable UK industry to produce most of its requirements and avoid outsourcing from far away places. Let the construction of forty new hospitals [or whatever the latest number is] be the opportunity for decent-sized contracts that give our own companies the incentive to develop apparatus and products that meet the needs of the service at an economical price. This will boost the economy and also open up export opportunities around the world. We might have to be dependent on foreign supplies of many pharmaceuticals because it is a rarefied market with lots of restrictive licensing protocols, but our scientists and home manufacturers are world-renowned in innovation and high-quality production lacking only the scale to compete against other producers globally. Outside pharmaceuticals, there is an enormous range of requirements in hospitals, laboratories and other health establishments for everyday and specialist material and we should ensure this purchasing power benefits our own economy first.