Marta Gajewska

Columnist

Marta Gajewska,

International Trade and Customs Advisor at NI Chamber

The Evolving Implications of Post-Brexit Trade

Movement Dates SDI Completion Dates 2021 2021

1–14 January 01 May 14–31 January 14 May 1–28 February 01 June 1–31 March 28 June 1–30 April 28 June

Marta Gajewska, International Trade and Customs Advisor at NI Chamber, provides an update to businesses importing from GB and looks ahead to progress with trade agreements which should help NI businesses seeking to scale up on post-Brexit trade.

The practical implications of trading post-Brexit continue to evolve, with a new way of trading slowly emerging for NI businesses. Trade processes between GB and NI are dynamic and the business community, along with wider stakeholders, are proving resilient in sourcing solutions to the challenges faced.

NI companies are actively and continuously seeking to understand the new regulations and are keen to expand their knowledge to ease administrative obstacles and trade without unnecessary disruption. We observe this first-hand at NI Chamber, as businesses continue to attend our international collaborative forum events, engage with our Customs Advisors and participate in our technical, international training courses to top up their knowledge and apply it to their businesses. There are a number of new and continuing government programs designed to assist business adapting to the new GB trading relationship. This includes HMRC’s £2,000 Brexit Support Fund for SMEs to access advice and training. More information can be found at gov.uk/guidance/.

The NI Customs and Trade Academy, which supports the Trader Support Service (TSS), has a number of useful checklists for companies to use when filling out the new documentation required. A recent addition is the checklist to support the creation of a Goods Movement Reference (GMR). This process is completed on the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) and is key for goods moving from GB to NI. You can access this at nicustomstradeacademy.co.uk.

As the TSS continues to support NI businesses with GBNI declarations, they are developing their service to meet the prevailing business challenges. Early April saw TSS enable registered users to access its Duty Deferment Account (DDA). Payments for goods (duty/VAT/excise) will be calculated during the Supplementary Declaration stage of the three stage TSS process. At this point traders will be able to settle payments using the DDA. This means that at the point of payment to TSS, the associated duty will be passed on to HMRC. Large businesses (more than 250 employees) will only be able to use TSS DDA until 1 July 2021. Small and medium size businesses (less than 250 employees) will be able to use this indefinitely. A new timescale was released by HMRC in mid-April for the completion of supplementary declarations. HMRC usually require that these declarations are completed by the fifth working day of the month after goods move. However, HMRC note that businesses making declarations for the first time need extra time to do so. The updated completion dates are summarised below:

Other updates include the continuation of the Scheme for Temporary Agri-Food Movements to NI (STAMNI) until at least 1 October 2021. This means that Authorised Traders will be able to move products of animal origin, composite products, food and feed of non-animal origin and plants and plant products from GB to NI without the need for official certification.

Trading with the Rest of the World

In terms of export trade outside of the EU, NI is part of the UK Free Trade Agreements currently being negotiated. The Department for International Trade (DIT) predict that 80% of UK trade will be covered by FTAs within 3 years, including trade with the EU. Currently, 67 Continuity Trade Agreements have been signed (extending those previously held through the EU). These potential export markets will play an important part in NI’s recovery from COVID-19.

The updated list of FTAs currently finalised can be accessed at www.gov.uk/guidance/.

The UK has also submitted a formal application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which covers 11 countries around the Pacific Rim such as Canada, Vietnam, New Zealand, Australia and Japan. Such an agreement will step beyond the provisions of an FTA and cover additional areas such as food safety regulations, transfer of data, movement of people and more favourable tariffs. This is an expanding agreement with other countries such as Korea, the Philippines and Taiwan tipped to join. To further support NI businesses to trade internationally, DIT has announced the introduction of a new trade and investment hub in Belfast. This will give businesses direct access to export and investment specialists who can provide support and advice on entering new overseas markets as well as invaluable research resources.

NI businesses hold a unique position through the NI Protocol and, in time, should be able to derive benefit from the ability to access both GB and EU markets directly, as well as the rest of the world through UK FTAs. In February 2021, it was reported that post-Brexit trade between ROI and NI has increased significantly, with imports from NI into Republic of Ireland (ROI) almost doubling (+95%) on the same period in 2020, whilst imports from GB were down by 53% (source: ROI Central Statistics Office). Further, exports from ROI to NI were up by 38%, whilst exports to GB were down 11%, with food and live animals seeing the biggest fall. This is despite the UK government delaying the introduction of its full customs code until next year.

This is potentially an early indication that remaining within the EU customs territory for goods has opened the NI economy up as a user-friendly route from which EU countries can source products. Hopefully, this demonstrates the future potential for our businesses and the NI economy as we transition through 2021 to a different way of trading.