BIFAlink


Policy & Compliance


www.bifa.org


Continuity of trade under the withdrawal agreement


With many questions being asked about trade at the end of the Withdrawal Agreement, guidance on some issues can be found in the withdrawal legislation


Before the end of 2020, two of the more popular questions BIFA Members were asking was how to avoid double duties for goods moving between two now separate customs territories and what would happen to goods leaving either the UK or the EU before the end of transition but arriving afterwards. Although at the time of writing this article there


was still no free trade agreement and the guidance relative to certain sections of the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) was still being worked on, the Secretariat would like to draw Members’ attention to some legislation that at least to a degree addresses these issues. One of the most pressing issues is the status


18


of goods that will depart from the territory of either the UK or the EU before the end of transition but arrive afterwards.


Guidance This issue has been addressed in Article 47 Union status of goods of the WA, which states that a movement of goods that has started before the end of the transition period and ends thereafter shall be treated as an intra-Union movement regarding importation and exportation licensing requirements in Union law. The UK specific guidance should also specify


further detail applicable to the article, but Members should be aware that such a provision applies.


The next legal reference would be Article 41 of


the WA which makes provisions for continued circulation of goods placed on the market. The text of the article makes it clear that any good that was lawfully placed on the market in the Union or the UK before the end of the transition period may: (a)be further made available on the market of the Union or of the UK and circulate between these two markets until it reaches its end-user;


(b)where provided in the applicable provisions of Union law, be put into service in the Union or in the UK.


What this means is that goods consigned to


the final user and placed on the market before the end of transition will be allowed to be treated as domestic goods and should not be subject to customs formalities and import duties and taxes. It is an important article as it makes provisions for the continuity of trade that is so much needed


January 2021


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24