News & Insights

Polytra, a subsidiary of our joint venture partner Fracht, has been appointed agent for COSCO shipping lines in Kinshasa, the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Polytra Congo secured the liner agency contract with COSCO Shipping after successfully creating a ship... Read more

In a repeat of its recent allocation of EORI numbers to 90,000 firms, HMRC has this week subscribed 95,000 businesses to its Transitional Simplified Procedures which will apply should the UK leave the EU without a deal. Transitional Simplified Procedures (TSP), is intended to make importing af... Read more

How to import goods that are not controlled (standard goods) from the EU into the UK using transitional simplified procedures. The UK will leave the EU on 31 October. This page tells you how to prepare for Brexit. It will be updated if anything changes, including if a deal is agreed. If you... Read more

Government predictions that UK shippers could face a £15bn bill for post no-deal Brexit customs entries has been substantially underestimated, but Metro are committed to simplify the burden and cost. An impact assessment carried out by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HRMC), published t... Read more

Post a No-Deal exit shippers will need to declare EU goods imported into the UK by submitting a customs declaration and pay any duty and tax owed. But HMRC have announced easements to simplify the process. All shippers will need to declare EU goods imported into the UK by submitting a customs ... Read more

Chiefs from 23 auto business associations have predicted that a no-deal Brexit would have a ‘seismic’ impact on making cars in Europe. The chiefs from 23 auto business associations across Europe joined forces to caution against a no-deal exit from the EU by Britain, where BMW, Peugeot and ... Read more

The Global Freight Awards (GFA) are arguably the industry’s most prestigious and hotly contested, with the world’s biggest carriers and forwarders competing against smaller, more agile competitors, across a range of categories. The GFA judges have short-listed Metro as finalists in three cate... Read more

Carriers have been announcing more blank sailings on the Asia-North Europe trade as slowing demand threatens to pull down rate levels. With widespread factory closures during China’s Golden Week in the first week of October due to further limit volume out of Asia, shippers can expect more ro... Read more

French Customs authorities have published guidance for UK businesses in the event of a no deal EU Exit. If the UK leaves the EU with no deal Brexit customs formalities and controls at the border between France and the UK will be reinstated for goods. Any exchange of goods between France and... Read more

Starting in November (UPDATE: NOW JANUARY 2020), in phased deadlines set by the International Civil Aviation Organization, 100% of all air freight shipments from Hong Kong International Airport must be X-ray screened by March 2021. Shippers using Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) could se... Read more

In 2016, the International Marine Organization (IMO) agreed to limit the sulphur content in all marine fuels to 0.5% beginning in 2020, which has distinct ramifications for shippers, as carriers invest in fuel cleaning systems or switch to more expensive lower sulphur fuels. The IMO ruling, wh... Read more

Despite continuous reporting of the need for an EORI number to continue importing from the EU post-Brexit, take-up had been persistently low, leading HMRC to take the unusual step of pro-actively issuing the number. As of June 2019, only 33% of those needing the number had applied for an Econo... Read more