Sour surprise for sweets: Brexit may raise German candy cost

Lollipops handmade in the EU are displayed at the international candy fair ISM in Cologne, Germany on Jan. 30, 2019.  AP

COLOGNE, Germany — German gummy bears, chocolate and licorice are popular sweets in Britain, but aficionados there might have to start stockpiling if they don’t want to go cold turkey when the country leaves the European Union.

German candy retailers are worried that exporting sweets to the United Kingdom will become as slow as molasses after March 29’s Brexit, causing supply shortages and price increases as new unclear customs regulations are instituted.

Bastian Fassin from the Association of the German Confectionery Industry told the German news agency dpa: “We don’t even know which customs form to fill out and which customs class we’ll be in.” /ee