The Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration on the future relationship between the UK and EU was endorsed by leaders at a special meeting of the European Council on 25 November.

The Withdrawal Agreement sets out terms for the UK’s smooth and orderly exit from the EU and the Political Declaration sets out the framework for the future relationship between the EU and the UK.

Whether this will ever come into force is presently unclear. A 'no deal' scenario is not desirable. However, it is the duty of a responsible trader to prepare for the range of potential outcomes, including the event of 'no deal'. In the event of leaving the EU without a deal, legislation will be necessary to ensure the UK’s Customs, VAT and Excise regimes function as intended after the UK leaves the EU and so, on a contingency basis, HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs have confirmed that they will lay a number of Statutory Instruments (SIs) under the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018 (TCTA) and the EU Withdrawal Act 2018 (EUWA).

As these SIs are laid they, and any accompanying documentation, will be published on this Hammad Baig's blog. This will include an impact assessment, any draft notices and public notices made in respect to these SIs and the TCTA respectively. In addition to this, as two of the SIs will be incorporating a number of documents by reference, these documents are also be listed and linked.

This legislation is designed to broadly replicate the current EU legislation, and minimise disruption from a 'no deal' scenario on UK international trade. To further support this there are step by step guides to importing and exporting which explain the steps that businesses can take to prepare for a 'no deal' scenario.

If the UK exits the EU without a deal, UK businesses will have to apply customs, excise and VAT procedures to goods traded with the EU, in broadly the same way that already applies for goods traded with countries outside of the EU.

The UK intends to establish an independent trade remedies system by the time the UK exits the EU. There will also be implications for a range of specific goods regulated under EU legislation. Please cleck here to read the full article on Hammad Baig's blog.