Ministers set out what people and businesses will need to do if the UK crashes out

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The government has published 24 of 80 papers setting out advice for people and businesses in the event of the UK crashing out of the EU with no withdrawal agreement.

It is the most extensive “how to” guide yet published to help preparations for a no-deal scenario.

Trading with the EU

The papers specify the layers of red tape that could face those trading with EU countries. Import and export declarations will be needed on all goods going across the border and separate safety and security declarations need to be made by Eurotunnel, airlines and shippers.

Importers will have to register as “economic operators”, learn how to classify their goods in relation to World Trade Organization tariffs and consider whether to hire staff and services of customs brokers or freight experts.

Medicine

The government says it will ensure the UK “has an additional six weeks’ supply of medicines in case imports from the EU through certain routes are affected”.

It has also advised pharmaceutical companies to stockpile, saying they should ensure they have an additional six weeks’ supply of medicines in the UK “on top of their own normal stock levels”.

It says it will ensure “separate arrangements” for medicines with a short shelf life to be flown into the country but it does not say how it will escape the new paperwork needed for deliveries including customs declarations and safety declarations.

Clinics that import or export tissues or cells would need written agreement with the relevant EU licensed establishments to continue importing or exporting.

Hospitals, stem cell laboratories, tissue banks and fertility clinics that import from the EU would also need new written agreements with member states, but the government claims this would add a “minimum burden” to the organisations.

Business in Northern Ireland

The government says it is committed to acting in the “best interests of the people of Northern Ireland” but offers little comfort to businesses trading between the region and the Republic of Ireland, telling them to “ask Dublin” what they should do.

“We would recommend that, if you trade across the land border you should consider whether you will need advice from the Irish government about preparations you need to make.”

VAT

The government is avoiding a VAT time bomb by allowing companies to pay VAT on imports on their regular VAT returns rather than as the goods cross the border.

Financial services

Individual and business customers of UK-based payment services “could face increased costs and slower processing times for euro transactions”. The EU ban on surcharges for the use of banking cards for cross-border transactions, which will include shopping online, will disappear. This raises the prospect of a rise in costs for all businesses.

Britons living in the EU

UK citizens in the European Economic Area “may lose the ability to access existing lending and deposit services”.

Food and farming

UK exporters of organic food could face a nine-month block to sales if there is no Brexit deal. That is because UK organic certification bodies will have to be approved by the EU, but cannot apply until the UK leaves. It can then take nine months for approval to be granted though the government says "we are exploring alternative approaches that should speed up this process".

Farm subsidies, currently paid by the EU, will be paid to farmers by the UK government if there is no deal. The government has pledged the same total cash "until the end of this parliament, expected in 2022".

European Regional Development Fund

The government will guarantee funding for EU projects in infrastructure and science research agreed before Brexit day.

Horizon2020

There are also guarantees for funding for the science and innovation programme up to Brexit day but the government is still hoping to get associate membership of Horizon Europe the successor programme which will cost the UK about €10bn (£9bn) over the seven-year funding cycle.

Erasmus

British students will not be eligible for the Erasmus university exchange programmes if there is no deal. The government will step in with funds to guarantee those who have grants falling between 29 March 2019 and the end of 2020 can continue their studies. After that participation in Erasmus will depend on bilateral talks.

Participation in EU humanitarian contracts

Termination of EU funding for UK NGOs involved in EU aid projects would mean work ends abruptly on Brexit day. The government said it would guarantee any funding provided by the EU “where a UK organisation is the lead consortium or sole implementer”.

Trade disputes

The government says it will have a new Trade Remedies Authority up and running by 29 March to replace the European commission complaints procedure.

State aid

EU rules will be transposed into British law meaning state aid rules will apply to all sectors and mirror existing block exemptions in agriculture and fisheries.

Workplace rights

The EU’s working time regulations govern rights to annual leave, holiday pay, rest breaks, family leave, discrimination and harassment in the workplace. These will be transposed into British law, meaning workers will continue to be entitled to such rights, the paper says.

Defence exports

The export of military items are not covered by EU regulations but the European firearms pass “would no longer be available for UK persons taking their personal firearms to the EU”.



Some medicines involving radioisotopes have a limited shelf-life and are imported from Belgium, France, and the Netherlands, and used to treat a million people each year.