UKWA voices excise concerns
December 1st 2010

UKWA has warned that the movement of excise goods around the UK and throughout Europe could grind to a halt if the forthcoming introduction of the Excise Movement and Control System encounters significant teething troubles.

Coming into effect on January 1, all traders must use EMCS for the movement of duty suspended excise goods within the EU.

Testing of the new system is scheduled to begin on December 20 – less than two weeks before the EMCS goes live and this, UKWA contends, leaves little time to check the readiness of the UK to channel EMCS messages.

Roger Williams, UKWA’s chief executive officer, said: “We strongly feel that a longer testing period is needed to ensure that any problems with the system are addressed before the go live date.”

In further news, the UKWA has appointed John Maguire, sales and marketing director of Flexi Narrow Aisle, as its new vice chairman. Maguire will succeed Derrick Potter as national chairman in 2011.

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