On Thursday 24th August 2018 the UK Government published the first 24 technical notes of guidance of how to prepare if the UK leaves the EU with no deal.
Together with the technical notes it published an overview. The stated aim of the overview is to put the government’s technical notes in context.
These 25 papers can be found on the Department for Exiting the European Website here
Below I highlight my personal guide to reading them without loosing the will to live.
The technical are grouped under 10 headings
APPLYING FOR EU-FUNDED PROGRAMMES
CIVIL NUCLEAR AND NUCLEAR RESEARCH
FARMING
IMPORTING AND EXPORTING
LABELLING PRODUCTS AND MAKING THEM SAFE
MONEY AND TAX
REGULATING MEDICINES AND MEDICAL EQUIPMENT
STATE AID
STUDYING IN THE UK OR EU
WORKPLACE RIGHTS
OVERVIEW
The overview is the introduction and as can be expected is non-specific, its intended aim and objective:
This document puts the government’s technical notices in context, explaining the current progress in negotiations and the unlikely circumstances in which a no deal scenario might materialise.
It also explains the government’s overarching approach to preparing the UK for this outcome in order to minimise disruption and ensure a smooth and orderly exit in all scenarios.
It can in reality be at best skimmed or missed out altogether, that is unless you are likely to be engaged in any way with one of the three pieces of quoted legislation detailed under the paragraph headed Legislation.
The Haulage Permits and Trailer Registration Act 2018
The Nuclear Safeguards Act 2018
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018
In these circumstances you may want to review the legislation if you have not already done so; Hauliers NB and for your ease of reference see here
The technical papers all follow the same format.
The first eight paragraphs are of general reassurance about how well the negotiations are going, how a ‘no deal’ scenario remains unlikely, how much the UK Government has been doing to prepare for any outcome, that acceleration of a no deal outcome was always inevitable as March 2019 approaches, what the technical notes are for and that the devolved administrations are involved in this process.
That short summary encapsulates the first 269 introductory words of every single one of the technical notes. It contains nothing of substance.
Then we come to the Purpose section which indicates who the technical note’s intended user group is and why the note has been written.
The next three paragraphs are the heart of the matter. These are worth concentrating on in detail.
Before 29 March 2019
After 29 March 2019 if there’s no deal
Implications
An exception to this is the paper Trading with The EU If There Is No Brexit Deal which is listed under the IMPORTING AND EXPORTING group.
Even its Purpose section highlights complications.
It places the responsibility of preparing for a no deal eventuality onto the businesses. This includes a six-bullet point action plan for immediate preparation as follows:
- understand what the likely changes to customs and excise procedures will be to their businesses in light of this technical notice
- take account of the volume of their trade with the EU and any potential supply chain impacts such as engaging with the other businesses in the supply chain to ensure that the necessary planning is taking place at all levels
- businesses should consider the impact on their role in supply chains with EU partners. In the event that the UK and the EU does not have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in place in a ‘no deal’ scenario, trade with the EU will be on non-preferential, World Trade Organisation terms. This means that Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariffs and non-preferential rules of origin would apply to consignments between the UK and EU. Further information on preferential trade under the UK’s existing trade agreements will be captured in the ‘Trade Agreement Continuity’ technical notice
- if necessary, put steps in place to renegotiate commercial terms to reflect any changes in customs and excise procedures, and any new tariffs that may apply to UK-EU trade. Look at the existing guidance for importing and exporting outside of the EU on GOV.UK to familiarise themselves with the key processes
- consider how they will submit customs declarations for EU trade in a ‘no deal’ scenario, including whether they should engage the services of a customs broker, freight forwarder or logistics provider to help, or alternatively secure the appropriate software and authorisations
- register for the HMRC’s EU Exit update service. On GOV.UK, search for ‘HMRC videos, webinars and email alerts’, click to register to get business help and education emails, enter your email and select ‘EU Exit’.
This note goes into much more detail under a subsection of Implications entitled What businesses trading with the EU need to know.
This technical note is complicated and delves into many of the consequences of trading as a third i.e. non-EU country. To really understand the level of complexity that will be involved for individual businesses in the event that the UK’s exit negotiations with the EU fail this technical note is worth reading here.
Interestingly whilst purporting to address the unresolved problem of the forthcoming land border between Ireland and Northern Ireland it offers something of a “no advice” option promising only an “engagement on arrangements for land border trade. We will provide more information in due course.”
The UK Government’s best advice on this matter is:
“The Irish government have indicated they would need to discuss arrangements in the event of no deal with the European Commission and EU member states. We would recommend that, if you trade across the land border, you should consider whether you will need advice from the Irish government about preparations you need to make.”
Ireland is still at the heart of the matter.
Oh and no word yet about EU citizens currently in the UK, freedom of movement and future immigration.
Research
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/how-to-prepare-if-the-uk-leaves-the-eu-with-no-deal
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/19/pdfs/ukpga_20180019_en.pdf
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