Industry News: Business Readiness Bulletin – Brexit: New rules are here
All information on Brexit can be found at www.gov.uk/transition. This bulletin is issued by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and provides the latest information for businesses.
- NEW £20 million SME Brexit Support Fund
- Importing and Exporting
- Marketing goods
- Trade
- Business Support Helplines
- Webinars and Podcasts
- Sector-specific guidance
NEW £20 million SME Brexit Support Fund
The new £20 million SME Brexit Support Fund offers support to help small businesses adjust to new customs procedures, rules of origin, and VAT rules when trading with the EU.
SMEs who trade only with the EU, and are therefore new to importing and exporting processes, can apply for grants of up to £2,000, to pay for practical support including training and professional advice to ensure they can continue trading effectively with the EU.
You can use the grant for training on:
- how to complete customs declarations
- how to manage customs processes and use customs software and systems
- specific import and export related aspects including VAT, excise and rules of origin
It can be used to help you get professional advice so your business can meet its customs, excise, import VAT or safety and security declaration requirements.
Your business may be eligible if you have up to 500 employees, and no more than £100 million annual turnover. Applications for the SME Brexit Support Fund will open soon. For more information on how you can use the grant, who can apply and how to apply, click here.
NEW: Step-by-Step guides to importing and exporting goods between Great Britain and the EU: There are new rules for importing and exporting goods between Great Britain and countries in the EU. Whether you’re completing customs declarations yourself or have an intermediary to do it for you, these guides will take you through each step and set out your options.
- Import goods into the UK: step by step: How to bring goods into the UK from any country, including how much tax and duty you’ll need to pay and whether you need to get a licence or certificate.
- Export goods from the UK: step by step: How to move goods from the UK to international destinations, including the EU.
NEW: DEFRA’s Trader showcase sites for the latest information on exporting and moving goods from GB to the EU and NI: DEFRA’s Showcase sites are a one-stop-shop of useful information and documents for traders who export live animals or animal products.
- Moving goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland
- Exporting goods from Great Britain to the European Union
UPDATED: Importing from and re-exporting union goods to the EU Resources such as trader support packs and flowcharts, have been updated to include a new ‘Importing and re-exporting union goods to the EU – Flowchart’. For more information, click here.
UPDATED: Report goods arriving at a UK port on a commercial vessel: Guidance for the ship’s master or ship’s agent of commercial vessels on reporting goods arriving in at a UK port, has been updated with information about ‘an account of stores held on board’. For more information, click here. UPDATED: List of customs agents and fast parcel operators: The list of agents and operators who can help submit customs declarations has been updated. For more information, click here.
TradeUPDATED: UK trade agreements with non-EU countries: The list of trade agreements has been updated to reflect the fully ratified UK-Egypt and UK-Singapore agreements. For more information, click here.
NEW: Brexit transition helplines: A list of government helplines organised by theme and key actions for businesses has been published. To view this, click here.
There are new rules for businesses doing business with the EU from 1 January, and you need to take action now. To help you, a helpline has been set up. For English businesses, the Business Support Helpline can help you identify the actions you need to take. Similar helplines are available for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
For more information for:
businesses in England, call 0800 998 1098
businesses in Scotland, call 0300 303 0660
businesses in Wales, call 0300 060 3000
businesses in Northern Ireland, call 0800 181 4422. For more information, including opening hours, click here
- NEW: The National Cyber Security Centre is running a series of free cyber security webinars and talks aimed at UK businesses of all sizes, educational institutions and charities. For more information, click here.
- NEW: Exporting goods from Great Britain to the EU via the short straits: A webinar and Q&A session on the issues arising from goods moving from GB to the EU, via the short straits, has been published. To view these, click here.
- Video content to keep your business moving: short on-demand videos covering the new rules on exports, imports, tariffs, data and hiring are available to view here.
- DEFRA are hosting a series of webinars covering importing food and drink, including composite food and fishery products from the EU to Great Britain (GB) from 1 April 2021. For more information and to register for relevant webinars, click here.
Webinars for businesses that trade with the EU: Click here to view a list of webinars you can sign up to watch live or on demand.
Emissions Trading
UPDATED: Participating in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS): Guidance explaining who the UK ETS applies to, and what is required of businesses that are covered, has been updated. Information on auctioning has been updated to include information on the Auction Reserve Price, the Cost Containment Mechanism and the Auctioning Regulations. For more information, click here.
Fishing & Fisheries
NEW: Scottish seafood taskforce to solve ongoing problems with exports: A new seafood taskforce has been established, drawing together senior political figures, industry representatives and UK Government officials, all working to solve ongoing problems with exports. For more information, click here.
UPDATED: How to export wild caught marine fishery products to the EU from 1 January 2021: The latest edition of the ‘One-stop-shop’ guidance is now available. For more information, click here.
