Latest Government Resources
Sector-specific guidance
NEW: £23 million Seafood Disruption Support Scheme now open: The UK Government has announced the opening of the new £23m Seafood Disruption Scheme. The scheme is available to seafood exporting businesses across the UK that have experienced a verifiable loss in value of their seafood consignment as a result of disruption when exporting to the EU. The scheme will be open for applications until 28 February 2021, further information about eligibility and how to apply can be found here. We ask: will the fashion sector be granted the equivalent?
Covid Response for Spring 2021 for England, including the roadmap announced by the Prime Minister: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-response-spring-2021
Claims under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) are now open for pay periods in February 2021.
Claims for January are now closed, but if you find you need to make a change because you didn’t claim enough you can do this until 1 March.
Make sure you have the latest information by joining the live Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme webinar. Register here
Monthly webinars on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme Register here
Draft data adequacy decisions pave the way for continued free flow of data between the EU and the UK
The UK government has welcomed the European Commission's draft data adequacy decision which recognises the UK’s high data protections standards and set out that the UK’s standards are ‘adequate’.
Positive data adequacy decisions under both the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Law Enforcement Directive (LED) would allow for personal data to continue to flow freely from the European Union (EU) and wider European Economic Area (EEA) to the UK.
The UK now urges the EU to fulfil its declared commitment to complete the technical approval process swiftly, so that we have final data adequacy decisions as soon as possible. This will provide certainty for businesses. The ‘bridging mechanism’ will remain in place until June 30 or until the adequacy decisions come into effect, whichever is sooner.
Moving Goods
UPDATED: The Goods Vehicle Movement Service: The Goods Vehicle Movement Service is for traders, hauliers and carriers who use a UK Port.
Guidance for hauliers has been updated here.
Guidance on registering for the Goods Vehicle Movement Service has been updated with new information about who should register for the service. For more information, click here.
Get a goods movement reference: Information about what you need to do to get a goods movement reference has been updated. For more information, click here.
Check if a goods movement reference is valid: Information about hauliers moving goods from the EU to GB has been updated. For more information, click here.
UPDATED: European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) international road haulage permits: Guidance on permits to travel to or through ECMT member countries has been updated. Information about applying for short-term permits has been updated, you can now apply for there for the rest of 2021. For more information, click here.
UPDATED: HMRC newsletter to help traders avoid some problems they may encounter when moving goods under transit: The most recent HMRC newsletter, has been updated with information on ‘French ports with the ‘smart border’ system’. For more information, and to view recent editions of the newsletter, 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.
Northern Ireland
UPDATED: Trading and moving goods in and out of Northern Ireland by parcel: Guidance has been updated with information about moving goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland by parcel. This information can be found in the section ‘Moving excise goods’. For more information, click here.
Trade
UPDATED: Trade with Iceland and Norway: Guidance on how you import from, and export to, Iceland and Norway has been updated. For more information, click here.
Business Support Helplines
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.
Webinars and Podcasts
NEW: Exporting: What you need to do to keep your goods moving: A new YouTube video from HMRC is now available to watch on-demand. To view this, click here.
NEW: Webinars for importers of food and drink products from the EU to GB: Register for webinars to find out about changes to importing food and drink, including composite food and fishery products from the EU to Great Britain from 1 April 2021.
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.
All webinars and videos for organisations that trade with the EU can be found here.
Trading with EU post-Transition: what you need to know about VAT and customs
The webinar on 10 March, hosted by DIT, OCS Worldwide and SimplyVAT.com will provide guidance on the following:
Customs paperwork and the importance of data accuracy
Understanding HS codes
DDP v. DAP shipping methods
Handling ecommerce returns
Tax invoices
VAT requirements when selling to the EU now
EU VAT changes from July 1st
UK -France Goods Movement
Community, Common Transit and TIR: newsletters -Information about ‘French ports with the ‘smart border’ system’ in Transit Newsletter 3 – January 2021 has been updated.
Sub-sector specific information
Electronics and machinery sector and the EU - Added additional information to Trading with the EU section on preferential rates.
Data Adequacy
UK government welcomes the European Commission’s draft data adequacy decisions First published on Friday.