The UK is leaving the EU single market and customs union and the end of the transition period will happen on 1 January 2021. Therefore businesses which import and export with EU countries need to start preparing themselves. We will gather information relevant to our industry on this page with links to government advice and we would urge you to bookmark this page and check it regularly.
- The transition period – UK Government hub
- Information on how the border will work after 1 January 2021.
Importing
- Importing goods – a step-by-step guide to check what you need to do.
- Importing animals, animal products and high-risk food and feed not of animal origin from a non-EU country, from 1 January 2021. What businesses need to do to import animals, animal products, high-risk food and feed into the UK from 1 January 2021. Find out more here.
- Importing live aquatic animals. Find out more here.
- Importing plants and plant products from 1 January 2021. How to trade in plants and plant products, including trees, inside and outside the EU from 1 January 2021. Find out more here.
- Trading & moving CITES species (eg corals). Find out more here.
- Designated land, sea and air ports for trading or moving CITES-listed endangered animals, plants, or their parts and derivatives from 1 January 2021. Find them all here.
- UK Border Control Posts: contact details.
- List of controlled goods that require a custom declaration.
- Find UK approved customs agents and fast parcel operators
- Apply for grants if your business completes customs declarations.
Exporting
- Exporting goods – a step-by-step guide to check what you need to do.
- Export licences. Find out more here.
- Read Defra advice on what you need to do to export plants to the EU.
Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland Protocol will take effect from 1 January 2021 and means there are different rules. So if you provide goods to Northern Ireland from Great Britain you need to get ready for these different process.
- Moving goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain should take place as it does now – there will be no additional process, paperwork, or restrictions on Northern Ireland goods moving to Great Britain, delivering unfettered access.
- Changes for goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland will be kept to an absolute minimum – with a new Trader Support Service, available to all traders at no cost, to be established to provide wraparound support, alongside guidance on the processes for food and agricultural products designed to uphold the longstanding status of the island of Ireland as a single epidemiological unit.
- Trade in goods between Northern Ireland and Ireland, and between Northern Ireland and EU Member States, will continue unaffected, with no change at the border, no new paperwork, and no tariffs or regulatory checks.
- For trade with the rest of the world, Northern Ireland will benefit from UK Free Trade Agreements – ensuring the benefits of those agreements are felt right across the United Kingdom.
Other regulations
eCommerce Directive
At the end of the transition period, the eCommerce Directive will no longer apply to the UK. You should begin to prepare for these changes now. Rules relating to online activities in European Economic Area (EEA) countries may newly apply to UK online service providers who operate in the EEA from 1 January 2021. The eCommerce Directive currently allows EEA online service providers to operate in any EEA country, while only following relevant rules in the country in which they are established. This framework will no longer apply to UK providers as the UK will have left the EEA. This is likely to affect you if you sell online.
