Articles

!!! Updated article with adjustments made to the UCC !!! On 24 March 2023, the EU and the United Kingdom (UK) agreed to settle their dispute over the Northern Ireland Protocol, in particular … by responding to some of the UK's requests to facilitate trade between Great Britain – GB (England, Wales, Scotland) on the one hand and Northern Ireland on the other (so-called East-West trade) and by accommodating the UK on some other issues. The relevant legal acts, recommendations and declarations were published in Official Journal No. L 102 of 17 April 2023. CCRM Journal for Practitioners in Europe has therefore asked Michael Lux, who advised the Government of Northern Ireland on the interpretation of the original version of the Northern Ireland Protocol, to outline the main aspects of the Windsor Framework with regard to trade in goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The Windsor Framework possibly places Northern Ireland in a very enviable position. Importers and exporters from Northern Ireland uniquely have free access to both the UK and EU markets – which … should surely attract considerable foreign investment and transform it into a prosperous trading hub. How did the journey to Windsor go?

Trade agreements have their own unique rules of origin to determine whether something has preferential origin. They also each have their own rules on how preferential origin should be evidenced. … This can be confusing when a business is using multiple trade agreements. The focus of this article is on a particular method of evidencing preferential origin: importer’s knowledge. This is a relatively new concept in the EU, first appearing in the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, replicated in the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and now contained in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

Importing a car from the UK has always seemed attractive as there is a much bigger choice than in Ireland, prices are very competitive, and anyone could travel freely to make their purchase. … The currency exchange rate can also be favourable to Irish buyers. But importing a car from the UK has become more complicated in 2021 post Brexit. Here is an overview of the requirements for imports of cars to the Republic of Ireland from Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Jean-Michel Thillier, Director of Customs for the Hauts-de-France region of northern France and in charge of Brexit, took stock of the 'smart border' after one month of Brexit. The attention … of operators was drawn to various issues identified: unpreparedness for customs formalities, unnecessary requesting of preferential origin, etc.

European Commission released Guidance on preferential treatment, origin and customs procedures to assist EU businesses importing from and exporting to the UK. One of the questions clarified: … “Goods originating in the EU are exported to the UK and released for free circulation there. They are not transformed. Can they come back to the EU without paying duties?”. The only suggestion is to customs clear them as returned goods. Does the same principle apply to all EU FTAs? What are the requirements for returned goods to claim “zero duty”? What about “zero VAT”? Other requirements like Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary?

After months of wrangling the EU and the UK agreed upon the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) on the 24th of December 2020. This trade agreement came as a huge relief to most traders and … businesses who have exposure to the EU/UK supply chain. However, it was not long before this ‘Christmas present’ revealed some very significant conditions that invalidated many of the benefits that most thought the TCA presented. For Customs and trade professionals, this would have been anticipated to some extent, but to regular business owners who had come to rely on the frictionless trade that the EU’s Customs Union and single market facilitated, these conditions came as a very unwelcome shock.

What does the EU-UK TCA mean for businesses that sell finished goods of EU origin to EU customers from the UK, and vice versa? This article addresses questions increasingly asked by businesses … with distribution centre models. Specifically, questions relating to how to mitigate customs duty when trading originating goods between the UK and the EU in 2021.

We overviewed the EU requirements for an EU exporter to get the Exporter Reference Number to include in the statement on origin (in Part I) and continue answering these questions: What is the … Exporter Reference Number of the UK exporter? Who may act as an EU/UK exporter? What is a “commercial document” on which the statement on origin may be made out?

Reader's questions: Does Northern Ireland belong (as of 1 January 2021) to two customs territories: the United Kingdom and the European Union? What customs formalities apply to the movement of … goods from the EU to Northern Ireland and vice versa? What about zero tariffs and preferential origin of goods?

Zero duties in the EU-UK trade will apply only to originating products. In most cases the proof of origin will be the statement on origin made out by the exporter in a commercial document. Reader’s … questions: „There is an Exporter Reference Number indicated in the form of the statement on origin. When and how should an EU exporter obtain it? How long does it take? May the exporter issue the statement on origin after exportation of the goods?“.

On 24 December 2020 European Commission announced that an agreement with the United Kingdom on the terms of future cooperation was reached. The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement shall be … provisionally applied as of 1 January 2021. It provides for zero tariffs and zero quotas on all goods that comply with the appropriate rules of origin. What are these rules and the documents proving the originating status of the goods?