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Brexit Bulletin - 31 January 2022
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One year on from the signing of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), ADS hosted a webinar with the Aerospace Team from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to talk through the key impacts of the Agreement for members and the future trading relationship. You can read more in our In Focus section below.
Our Brexit Dashboard, a summary and status of key issues related to Brexit and our sectors has been updated, which you can access on the ADS’ member website here. We hope that you find the updated Dashboard a useful resource and we continue to feed in any impacts you are facing directly into Government.
At the beginning of January, new customs controls came into force. Whilst members have not reported any problems to ADS, some European trucks have had to wait for hours, and even days in some cases, at the port of Dover before crossing the English Channel into France. If members are feeling any impacts from the new controls, please get in touch with our Senior Economist Aimie Stone, who has written more in our Customs and Border update below.
As always, members can keep up to date on the latest issues through our Brexit Hub.
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This month, ADS explored some of the key impacts and ongoing issues related to the UK-EU TCA with Christopher Burns, Senior Policy Advisor, Aerospace from BEIS. Discussions centred around the current political climate, the Northern Ireland Protocol, the policy impacts of the Agreement, and its impact on members. You can read a summary blog, which includes advice to members going forward. If you need any support regarding the issues raised in the webinar, check out our ADS Brexit Hub for the latest updates on GOV.UK.
This webinar is intended to be the last in our Managing Brexit series and we hope that members have found the series useful over the past year. You can find recordings of the latest and all our previous webinars in both this series and the previous Preparing for Brexit series in our Members Area. Topics have included Free Trade Agreements, Aviation Safety, Mobility, and VAT and Customs.
Going forward, ADS will continue to keep members updated on all the latest Brexit updates through this Bulletin and our Brexit Hub.
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There were many updates on the trade policy front throughout January, with key points for members detailed below:
India
The UK and India launched negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) at an event in New Delhi. International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan met with her counterpart, Indian minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, to formally start talks on a deal. The Government published its approach to negotiating an FTA with India, which explains the Government’s strategic rationale for pursuing an FTA with India, its negotiating objectives, its response to the consultation on an FTA between the UK and India, and an initial assessment of the potential long-term impacts of an FTA. We would encourage any members with interests in this FTA to highlight feedback or comments with Senior Economist, Aimie Stone.
United States
The UK and US issued a joint statement on global steel and aluminium capacity, following a call between the International Trade Secretary and the US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai. This included the announcement of the start of bilateral discussions between the US and UK on resolving US tariffs currently levied on UK steel, and the potential retaliatory tariffs the placed by the UK on US goods such as whiskey, clothing and electric motors. Aerospace Policy Adviser, Andy Phillips, has written a blog on the announcement.
Oman
The UK and Oman have signed a Sovereign Investment Partnership (SIP), agreeing to work closer together on increasing high value investment into both countries. The Memorandum of Understanding between the UK’s Office for Investment (OFI) and the Oman Investment Authority (OIA) will strengthen the economic ties between the UK and Oman and identify and support commercial investments in areas such as clean energy and technology, which are already an important part of the £1 billion-a year trading relationship.
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Following Lord Frost’s resignation from the Government in December, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has taken on Brexit responsibilities, including negotiations with the EU on the NI Protocol. The Foreign Secretary and EU Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič held their second meeting in Brussels at the end of January.
An official statement from both sides states that the meeting took place in a ‘constructive atmosphere’ with the aim to progress talks further. Officials will meet again with the Foreign Secretary and Vice-President taking stock at a political level this week. The two sides also agreed that the EU-UK Joint Committee would meet at some point in February. ADS will continue to keep members informed of any further developments.
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National Security and Investment
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The National Security and Investment Act came into force at the beginning of this month and allows the Government to scrutinise and intervene in certain acquisitions made by businesses that could harm the UK’s national security. Subject to certain criteria, companies are legally required to tell the Government about acquisitions of certain entities in 17 sensitive areas of the economy (called ‘notifiable acquisitions’). These areas include Advanced Materials, Defence, Satellite and Space Technologies, and Transport.
The Government has produced guidance for businesses on preparing for the National Security and Investment Act, which will help you to understand the wider rules around acquisitions, and further guidance on notifiable acquisitions, which sets out all 17 sensitive areas. Organisations can also contact the Investment Security Unit (ISU) for further support.
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Customs and Border Update
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1 January 2022 UK Integrated Tariff codes
The full UK integrated tariff schedule incorporating changes from World Customs Organisation (WCO) is still being finalised. In the meantime, the 2021 to 2022 UK correlation table is available to see the 8-digit changes.
Goods Movement References needed for empty movements
From 1 February all movements through locations using the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS), including empty trailers, will need to have a Goods Movement Reference (GMR) to cross the UK border. This signals the end of a temporary easement that was put in at the beginning of the year as hauliers are adjusting to new requirements. Any non-compliant vehicles will be unable to embark from their port of departure.
Removal of the EU country code for the Country of Origin or Country of Dispatch
The EU country code for the Country of Origin and Country of Dispatch will be removed for CHIEF users from 8 February 2022, it is also not advised to use the EU country code when inputting into CDS, member states individual codes should be used instead. The EU country code is, however, permitted and should be used when declaring the country of preferential origin as per TCA rules.
Direct representation
The Joint Customs Consultative Committee have asked for guidance on direct representation to be re-circulated and this can be found on gov.uk. In brief, customs agents authorised for Simplified Customs Declaration Processes (SCDP) (previously CFSP) who are representing UK established customers can use their authorisation to import goods on behalf of traders in a direct capacity which means they will not be held jointly liable. This does not change the responsibilities of the intermediary. This change has no intended end point, and HMRC will continually monitor and review this policy. SCDP authorisation holders must have their own Duty Deferment Account.
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HMRC is providing a range of support to customs and international trade customers. ADS has collated a series of slide packs provided by government as part of our useful resources page on the ADS Brexit Hub and gov.uk also has a page dedicated to webinars and videos for organisations that trade with the EU.
Customs & International Trade Helpline – 0300 322 9434
The helpline is the main route in for customers with general customs queries. Capacity has been scaled up following the end of the transition period.
- For GVMS – (details to be published online soon)
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