Does your business import or export goods?

If your business imports or exports goods either as sales or in your supply chain, there are a number of things you need to do and be aware of before the end of the Brexit transition period on 31st December 2020. Tom Prince, Commerical Senior Associate at CG Professional, and a member of our Brexit support panel, provides insight to the changes here:

Custom duties in the UK are a tax levied on imports.  Currently there are no tariffs on trade within the EU customs union, but unless the UK reaches a free trade deal with the EU, they will apply to UK-EU trade.

From the 1st January 2021 there are many changes that business owners need to be aware of, including changes in tariffs, import VAT, insurance and VAT registration.

Businesses who import or export goods, either as sales or in their supply chain must register for an EORI (Economic Operators Registration and Identification) number for their business.

Tom Prince, Commercial Senior Associate at CG Professional comments:

“There are also practical issues in the import/export space which could create pressure on so-called ‘just-in-time’ supply chains as a result of:

• increased time for EU border crossings;
• possibility of suppliers becoming insolvent or trying to use force majeure to excuse non-performance;
• difficulties sourcing and storing materials and parts; and
• differing import and export controls and processes to understand and work with.

“For those businesses selling in the UK and the EU, costs and pressures of (potentially) complying with parallel regulatory regimes (such as compliance standards, packaging requirements and product standard checks) will need to be considered together with who bears the contractual risk of any non-compliance. This is likely to become more of a risk as time goes on and the UK diverges further and further from EU law.”