The big Brexit thread - news, updates and discussion

[stdP]

Anyone knows anything what should be happening with this sort of thing?

AIUI it depends on the nature of the item being sent; some under the ~£140 barrier will attract charges and others won't.

Despite the tariff-free deal, customs duties will apply to goods ordered from the UK that do not originate from Britain. Goods ordered from and manufactured in the UK should not attract customs duty, but products ordered from the UK worth more than that €150 and shipped from outside Britain will.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

In case anyone is unclear, AstraZeneca is a UK/Swedish company and the Oxford university they developed it with is the UK one, not the University of Mississippi which is in a different Oxford...

 

[zora]

Ah thanks, that explains that it was under the threshold.
However, it seems that around £20 in VAT is now lost completely to either/both Germany or the UK? And is customs duty in that sense the same as VAT?

Just had a look at this, seems to say that the seller should have applied VAT at point of sale after all - but maybe that would only apply if it was a seller based in the UK..?

VAT and overseas goods sold directly to customers in the UK

How sellers deal with VAT for goods from overseas that they sell direct to customers in the UK.

www.gov.uk

Don't really understand it, but thankfully I don't really need to atm, just idling away another lockdown day...

 

[Pickman's model]

Random small practical question: I ordered a specialist electrical item worth around £100 from Germany in December. The sender didn't get it out in time before the 31 Dec, and refunded me the original payment and issued me with a new bill excluding the German VAT and said I would have to pay VAT here in the UK instead on delivery.
The person I ordered from is very much a one-man enterprise, so he did this mainly for ease of his own accounts I think, and I don't know if he understands the regulations correctly. Anyway, the item got delivered by Royal Mail yesterday with a customs declaration sticker from the sender on the parcel, but I didn't have to pay anything.
Anyone knows anything what should be happening with this sort of thing?

You just need to keep quiet lest they find a charge for you

 

[two sheds]

You just need to keep quiet lest they find a charge for you

Yes that was my first reaction to "what should be happening with this sort of thing?"

 

[ViolentPanda]

according to their website they do supply the UK - seems unlikely that they can just dump a load of extra langoustines on the market and expect them to sell, especially with all the restaurants closed.

Perhaps, if we weren't under a Tory govt, we could have had a "Seafood Marketing Board" that had promotion of eating seafood as its raison d'etre? We could do the same with other stuff like dairy produce, meat & swedes.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Of course it would - and does - but not in anywhere near the quantity or at anywhere near the price it has done up til now, so it won't be worth at least some of the catchers' and processors' while to deal with it.

But if you want to be narky about it, are you ready to admit you were wrong yet?

Sadly, we've lost our taste for fish, over the last 50 yrs or so, partly as a function of pricing, & partly because some seafoods came to be perceived as "posh".

 

[Pickman's model]

Perhaps, if we weren't under a Tory govt, we could have had a "Seafood Marketing Board" that had promotion of eating seafood as its raison d'etre? We could do the same with other stuff like dairy produce, meat & swedes.

we could have a white elephant export board, which would oversee the export of the rich to the south atlantic industrial zone

 

[killer b]

swedes.

I was idly wondering the other day how much of the british swede crop goes to cornwall for their pasties. must be a lot.

 

[Pickman's model]

I was idly wondering the other day how much of the british swede crop goes to cornwall for their pasties. must be a lot.

as the west country equivalent of coals to newcastle is swedes to cornwall i'll leave you to judge

 

[ViolentPanda]

I was idly wondering the other day how much of the british swede crop goes to cornwall for their pasties. must be a lot.

I'm a swede fan (in soups & stews), but you probably have a point there. Cornish pasties are the only commercially-produced food I can think of that uses swede.

 

[Roadkill]

Sadly, we've lost our taste for fish, over the last 50 yrs or so, partly as a function of pricing, & partly because some seafoods came to be perceived as "posh".

I don't think that's really true actually. Fish consumption declined in the UK after World War II, but then started to rise again from the mid-70s and AFAIK (though I have not seen figures for the last few years) is still slowly creeping up, and that despite how expensive the Great British Consumer's favourite species have become.

 

[ViolentPanda]

we could have a white elephant export board, which would oversee the export of the rich to the south atlantic industrial zone

The industrial zone should have barbecue pits spread around, so that hungry guest-workers can eat each other conveniently.

 

[Pickman's model]

The industrial zone should have barbecue pits spread around, so that hungry guest-workers can eat each other conveniently.

as you well know the zone only received its funding on the proviso that one 'output' would be feed pellets for the penguins of the south atlantic: and hungry former people eating each other would necessarily impact the volume of feed pellets the penguins would receive. let the former people eat kelp

 

[gosub]

Perhaps, if we weren't under a Tory govt, we could have had a "Seafood Marketing Board" that had promotion of eating seafood as its raison d'etre? We could do the same with other stuff like dairy produce, meat & swedes.

Home | Seafish)

Seafish is a UK public body supporting the seafood industry to thrive. Visit our site for seafood industry data, guidance, advice and training.

www.seafish.org

 

[ViolentPanda]

I don't think that's really true actually. Fish consumption declined in the UK after World War II, but then started to rise again from the mid-70s and AFAIK (though I have not seen figures for the last few years) is still slowly creeping up, and that despite how expensive the Great British Consumer's favourite species have become.

My local - now gone - fishmonger was adamant that 1 of the biggest issues was that his average customer wouldn't experiment with new fish, whereas in his grandad's time (they opened in the 30s) people would try anything new in a fish stew, or a pie, then maybe try it steamed, fried or roasted if they liked the flavour.
Part of the rise may well be due to a growth in European immigrants, as opposed to British consumption. Certainly even my landlocked Hungarian friends tend to eat more fish, prepared more ways, than my English friends do.

 

[ViolentPanda]

as you well know the zone only received its funding on the proviso that one 'output' would be feed pellets for the penguins of the south atlantic: and hungry former people eating each other would necessarily impact the volume of feed pellets the penguins would receive. let the former people eat kelp

Penguins should always come first.

 

[Pickman's model]

My local - now gone - fishmonger was adamant that 1 of the biggest issues was that his average customer wouldn't experiment with new fish, whereas in his grandad's time (they opened in the 30s) people would try anything new in a fish stew, or a pie, then maybe try it steamed, fried or roasted if they liked the flavour.
Part of the rise may well be due to a growth in European immigrants, as opposed to British consumption. Certainly even my landlocked Hungarian friends tend to eat more fish, prepared more ways, than my English friends do.

there is no need, in my opinion, to have fish cooked any other way than smoked (esp in the case of herrings) or fried and battered (esp in the case of haddock)

 

[Artaxerxes]

Sadly, we've lost our taste for fish, over the last 50 yrs or so, partly as a function of pricing, & partly because some seafoods came to be perceived as "posh".

We still eat plenty of fish but only specific types of fish for the most part, focussing on the easy ones like Mackerel, Cod, Haddock, that sort of thing, and eating those in quantity. Keith Floyd was moaning about this in the 70's during one of his shows.

Those dishes you get abroad where you shove an array of weird sealife in a stew and hope its not in a shell are a rarity on the British table.

 

[Roadkill]

My local - now gone - fishmonger was adamant that 1 of the biggest issues was that his average customer wouldn't experiment with new fish, whereas in his grandad's time (they opened in the 30s) people would try anything new in a fish stew, or a pie, then maybe try it steamed, fried or roasted if they liked the flavour.
Part of the rise may well be due to a growth in European immigrants, as opposed to British consumption. Certainly even my landlocked Hungarian friends tend to eat more fish, prepared more ways, than my English friends do.

I have seen it argued - plausibly - that fish has come to be seen as a healthy alternative to meat, which may well account for some of the rise in consumption, but I'd agree immigration probably also accounts for a proportion of it, especially of species other than the old fish-and-chip-shop staples.

 

[ViolentPanda]

We still eat plenty of fish but only specific types of fish for the most part, focussing on the easy ones like Mackerel, Cod, Haddock, that sort of thing, and eating those in quantity. Keith Floyd was moaning about this in the 70's during one of his shows.

Those dishes you get abroad where you shove an array of weird sealife in a stew and hope its not in a shell are a rarity on the British table.

True. When I bought a "weird array of sea-life" from one of the fish stalls in Brixton market, I did get asked if I was making bouillabaisse. I said "nah, fish stew, mate!".

 

[ViolentPanda]

I have seen it argued - plausibly - that fish has come to be seen as a healthy alternative to meat, which may well account for some of the rise in consumption, but I'd agree immigration probably also accounts for a proportion of it, especially of species other than the old fish-and-chip-shop staples.

I'd love to see people eating halibut as a replacement for red meat. It's dense, has excellent flavour, & can be cooked in most of the same ways a tuna or swordfish steak can, as well as diced for a stew. It also has a much smaller carbon footprint than beef!
A Trinidadian mate got me eating red snapper - which tastes great, but DOES have a big carbon footprint - & I like gurnard, both just grilled/barbecued.

 

[Roadkill]

I'd love to see people eating halibut as a replacement for red meat. It's dense, has excellent flavour, & can be cooked in most of the same ways a tuna or swordfish steak can, as well as diced for a stew. It also has a much smaller carbon footprint than beef!
A Trinidadian mate got me eating red snapper - which tastes great, but DOES have a big carbon footprint - & I like gurnard, both just grilled/barbecued.

I love halibut, but I'd be wary of recommending people eat it: large demersal fish like that are very vulnerable to fishing pressure. Personally, I'd like to see people eating a lot more pelagic species such as herring and mackerel, which reproduce quickly and therefore tend to bounce back well even if overfished, and are often caught fairly near home.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

I love halibut, but I'd be wary of recommending people eat it: large demersal fish like that are very vulnerable to fishing pressure. Personally, I'd like to see people eating a lot more pelagic species such as herring and mackerel, which reproduce quickly and therefore tend to bounce back well even if overfished, and are often caught fairly near home.

And are cheap, good for you, and tasty!

Fresh mackerel is a hugely underrated delicacy imho.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

A Trinidadian mate got me eating red snapper - which tastes great, but DOES have a big carbon footprint - & I like gurnard, both just grilled/barbecued.

Red snapper is indeed great, as is gurnard. You have expensive tastes, though.

 

[Pickman's model]

I love halibut, but I'd be wary of recommending people eat it: large demersal fish like that are very vulnerable to fishing pressure. Personally, I'd like to see people eating a lot more pelagic species such as herring and mackerel, which reproduce quickly and therefore tend to bounce back well even if overfished, and are often caught fairly near home.

a decline in herring stocks part of the cause of a decline in successful humpback whale pregnancies apparently Humpback whales may be struggling to breed as climate crisis depletes food

 

[Supine]

Penguins should always come first.

I'd have thought that would be the main course

 

[Roadkill]

a decline in herring stocks part of the cause of a decline in successful humpback whale pregnancies apparently Humpback whales may be struggling to breed as climate crisis depletes food

True, but that decline is evidently down to warming oceans rather than overfishing.

That said, it's certainly possible to overfish pelagics like herring and mackerel: the North Sea herring stock collapsed due to massive fsihing pressure at the end of the 70s, although - unlike the Grand Banks cod - it did then recover.

 

[SpookyFrank]

I was idly wondering the other day how much of the british swede crop goes to cornwall for their pasties. must be a lot.

Lots of swede is used for animal feed.

Sadly there was no way to phrase that sentence so that it didn't rhyme.

 

[Roadkill]

And are cheap, good for you, and tasty!

Fresh mackerel is a hugely underrated delicacy imho.

Couldn't agree more. It sounds a bit Victorian, but I am very fond of devilled mackerel, and smoked mackerel pate is one of my signature dishes...