Legal News | 10.10.19

What businesses should be thinking about with a No Deal Brexit on the horizon

With a potential No Deal Brexit on the horizon there are several important areas businesses should be addressing. Although preparation will be different for everyone our advice may assist to keep your business running smoothly. We have summarised the main areas below and will be supplying you with Fact Sheets over the next few weeks with more detailed information.

You must consider:

1. If your business is importing and/or exporting goods to the EU:

a) You must register for an EORI number to enable you to move goods between the UK and EU;

b) You should review the new tariffs for each product (at https://www.gov.uk/);

c) Familiarise yourself with the new VAT procedures which will apply at the border;

d) Where you have a long term exporting arrangement to the EU, you will need to identify an EU address or EU importer in your paperwork and EU importers have 21 months to establish a UK based operator;

e) Where you are importing medical products, familiarise yourself with the new importer obligations under UK REACH for Chemicals;

f) Where you are importing products for the automotive sector, familiarise yourself with the new importer obligations;

g) You will no longer be permitted to use EU emblems on your products, where products are assessed under UK rules by UK bodies will obtain a new ‘UKCA’ label;

h) Keep up to date with the Department for International Trade’s guidance; and

i) Review the government’s advice on transportation and ways of easing the checking at borders through registration.

2. If you employ any EU citizens

To avoid any interruption in your business it will be important to consider retention of staff and travel arrangements:

a) You should continue with the standard Right to Work checks – for the time being continue to check EU passports and ID cards;

b) You can offer to assist any EU and Swiss staff to apply under the EU settlement scheme;

c) You can advise any new staff to apply for a European Temporary Leave to Remain. This will give your EU workers a right to work here for up to 36 months. Following this our UK points based system applies; and

d) You must be aware that UK staff may need a work visa, permit or other documentation if they are going to the EU for longer than 90 days in a 180 day period.

3. Your Data Protection compliance Businesses need to ensure up to date compliance whilst avoiding any interruption of data;

a) The United Kingdom will be recognised as a third country. Therefore any personal data coming from the EEA (European Economic Area) will be restricted and require additional safeguards; and

b) Start by reviewing the ICO website for next steps to take (at https://ico.org.uk/).

4. If you provide services in the EEA

a) You must ensure the country in which you are providing those services recognises the relevant qualification before the UK leaves. This will apply to those such as engineers, teachers, lawyers etc; and

b) You should consider the status of those individuals who are providing services from abroad to your business.

5. If you are in the Farming and Environment sector

a) You should understand that current EU funding will cease. The government has promised CAP payments (pillar 1) will be matched in the short term but gradually phased out from 2021 to 2027. The government will commit to funding CAP (pillar 2) payments for rural development until the end of projects started before 2020;

b) If you import live animals the risk based check at final destination will still apply, but additional notification and licence requirements will apply and in some areas a border inspection will take place;

c) If you import plants, a new plant passport scheme will apply and importation will require advance notification to a UK plant authority; and

d) You must know and understand the EU Marketing standards for third countries, as they will start to apply to the UK and will affect products such as wine, eggs, fruit and vegetables.

6. Managing your waste

The government is warning of potential delays at ports and is asking businesses to look at ways it can store its own waste, find alternative storage, assess if there are other export routes or if there are any alternative recovery or disposal routes.

7. The protection of your businesses Intellectual Property within the EU

Recognition and protection of trademarks, copyrights and patents in the EU will need to be examined on a case by case basis.

We are here to help, so please do get in touch with your usual contact at Wansbroughs or email commerical@wansbroughs.com or call 01380 733300.