Mike Barton
LE

This may be the wrong thread but it is business-related (it may also be related to the Brexit thread but I don't want it to become lost amid all the twists and turns of that saga).
The basic situation is that I live overseas and regularly send personal and other mail home to the UK, none of which is of any commercial value. Prior to last year I simply used the postal system but with the onset of COVID-19 regular airmail stopped operating and the only way to post overseas is via international courier, EMS is the preferred courier in the post office of the country in which I am currently resident. The system works OK, 10 or so days to deliver to the UK, although it is expensive so I usually wait until I have a stash of things to send and post them together to one address for distribution when it gets there.
I stress again this is personal mail, documents, letters, cards, photos etc none of which has any commercial value. However this week I have been informed that I now need an EORI number to send mail to the UK (Great Britain actually, Northern Ireland may have other arrangements but fortunately the post office here won't be aware of that) I presume this is Brexit-related, if it is, it is, I do not wish to discuss that point.
I was given the UK gov website and duly got myself an EORI number online (I was already registered for tax self-assessment so I got one straight away) and went back to the PO but was informed it is the recipient who needs the EORI number and an email address and phone number for good measure, plus I would need to produce the ID of the recipient, well that bordered on the absurd, how could I possibly produce the ID of someone 8,000 miles away to whom I was sending a package (quite apart from the fact that they are in their 80s and never had an email address in their lives)?
I was able to resolve the situation eventually using my sister's address and her EORI number but it seems to be that this is an extraordinary development and although I keep up to date with UK news I have not seen it reported anywhere. Is it really the case that anyone who is expecting a delivery from overseas now needs to provide the sender with an EORI number? How does that work with unsolicited mail (surely the vast majority of mail we receive)? How does anyone order goods from overseas now?
If your son is in Australia and he sends you photos of the kids at Christmas or you are a modeller and need a spare part from China or you are expecting a second-hand book that you purchased from the US do you really need to provide an EORI number to the sender now, or has my local post office simply got the whole thing mixed up?
The basic situation is that I live overseas and regularly send personal and other mail home to the UK, none of which is of any commercial value. Prior to last year I simply used the postal system but with the onset of COVID-19 regular airmail stopped operating and the only way to post overseas is via international courier, EMS is the preferred courier in the post office of the country in which I am currently resident. The system works OK, 10 or so days to deliver to the UK, although it is expensive so I usually wait until I have a stash of things to send and post them together to one address for distribution when it gets there.
I stress again this is personal mail, documents, letters, cards, photos etc none of which has any commercial value. However this week I have been informed that I now need an EORI number to send mail to the UK (Great Britain actually, Northern Ireland may have other arrangements but fortunately the post office here won't be aware of that) I presume this is Brexit-related, if it is, it is, I do not wish to discuss that point.
I was given the UK gov website and duly got myself an EORI number online (I was already registered for tax self-assessment so I got one straight away) and went back to the PO but was informed it is the recipient who needs the EORI number and an email address and phone number for good measure, plus I would need to produce the ID of the recipient, well that bordered on the absurd, how could I possibly produce the ID of someone 8,000 miles away to whom I was sending a package (quite apart from the fact that they are in their 80s and never had an email address in their lives)?
I was able to resolve the situation eventually using my sister's address and her EORI number but it seems to be that this is an extraordinary development and although I keep up to date with UK news I have not seen it reported anywhere. Is it really the case that anyone who is expecting a delivery from overseas now needs to provide the sender with an EORI number? How does that work with unsolicited mail (surely the vast majority of mail we receive)? How does anyone order goods from overseas now?
If your son is in Australia and he sends you photos of the kids at Christmas or you are a modeller and need a spare part from China or you are expecting a second-hand book that you purchased from the US do you really need to provide an EORI number to the sender now, or has my local post office simply got the whole thing mixed up?