The Economic Operators' Registration and Identification System (EORI) was setup as a European Union (EU) wide initiative that helps businesses communicate with customs officials when they are importing and exporting goods. The EORI allows businesses to provide pre-arrival/pre-departure information for goods.

Following the end of the Brexit transition period, businesses in the UK are still required to hold an EORI number for the movement of goods in the following scenarios:

• between Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) or the Isle of Man and any other country (including the EU)
• between Great Britain and Northern Ireland
• between Great Britain and the Channel Islands
• between Northern Ireland and countries outside the EU

Which type of EORI number you need and where you get it from depends on where you’re moving goods to and from. You may need more than one. If you move goods to or from Great Britain, you must get an EORI number that starts with GB. Most are then followed by a 12-digit number based on the businesses VAT number. 

You may also need an EORI number starting with XI if you move goods to or from Northern Ireland. If a business will be making declarations or getting a customs decision in the EU, then they may need an EU EORI number from an EU country.

EU workers already living in the UK before 31 December 2020 have been required to apply for the EU Settlement scheme. Settled or pre-settled status gives the holder the right to work in the UK as well as other important rights including access to the NHS and the right to travel in and out of the UK. In most cases, the deadline for EU workers and their families to apply expired on 30 June 2021. It is understood that there was a significant wave of last-minute applications although the government appears to have ruled out any meaningful extension to the deadline.

Home Office guidance states that late applications will be accepted only if an individual has "reasonable grounds" for failing to meet the deadline applicable to them. Reasonable excuses listed in the Home Office guidance include lack of mental or physical capacity, serious medical condition or significant medical treatment care, victims of modern slavery and those in an abusive or controlling relationship. There is also a category for ‘other compelling practical or compassionate reasons’.

Since 1 January 2021, most EU citizens coming to the UK for work are required to apply for work visas and permits in the same way as for non-EU nationals. The new ‘points-based’ immigration system replaced the current rules for workers from outside the UK. The only exception is for Irish citizens. Employers need to have a sponsor licence to recruit any worker from outside the UK, including EU, EEA and Swiss citizens. There are important salary thresholds and skills requirements that must be considered as well as the payment of fees.

HMRC has written to VAT registered businesses across the country to remind them to be prepared for new trading rules with the EU from 1 January 2021 after the Brexit transition period comes to an end. Time is running short and without having all of the correct procedures and agreements in place it will be almost impossible to trade with the EU from 1 January 2021, technically from 11pm GMT on 31 December 2020.

One of the most important areas is that businesses must consider how to make customs declarations. Customs declarations can be difficult and time consuming to complete. 

Most businesses use a specialist such as a customs broker, freight forwarder or fast parcel operator to deal with this on their behalf. HMRC’s data suggests that one in three businesses already have a specialist in place, but many more will need to use one.

From 1 January 2021, customs agents will be able to make simplified declarations for you using their own authorisation, so you don’t need to be authorised. They can only do this if:

• your business is established in the United Kingdom
• your business imports goods into Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales)
• the customs agent has the appropriate authorisation

HMRC’s guidance is clear that if your goods do not have the right paperwork, or if information is incorrect or missing, your goods may be seized and you will face delays and may have to pay extra charges. 

If you are moving goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the free Trader Support Service can help guide you through new processes. Under the Northern Ireland Protocol, all Northern Ireland businesses will continue to have unfettered access to the whole UK market. 

HMRC has automatically registered many businesses to use simplified import procedures should the UK leave the EU without a deal on 31 October 2019.

The scheme, called the Transitional Simplified Procedures (TSP) will make importing from the EU bloc much easier, especially for businesses completing customs processes for the first time. The TSP will allow most businesses to transport goods from the EU into the UK without having to make a full customs declaration at the border and to postpone paying any import duties. In most cases, businesses will have up to 6 months to delay paying import duties and submit customs declarations. The use of the TSP will be optional.

Over 30,000 businesses had registered to use the scheme since it was launched. HMRC has now automatically enrolled 95,000 VAT-registered businesses that imported goods from the EU in 2018 into the TSP scheme. This should help speed-up the process of preparing for a no-deal Brexit and minimising some of the expected issues at UK borders. Businesses that are not registered for VAT and would benefit from the scheme need to register directly with HMRC.

The government has launched a “Get ready for Brexit” public information campaign to help ensure businesses are ready when the UK leaves the EU on (currently) 31 October 2019. As part of the campaign, a new checker tool will help businesses to prepare for Brexit, particularly if they import or export, deal with personal data or employ EU nationals. Users can use the tool to identify quickly what they need to do in order to be prepared for when the UK leaves the EU. The tool requires the user to answer seven questions to get guidance relevant to their business, including information on specific rules and regulations.

Click the link here: https://www.gov.uk/get-ready-brexit-check

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid has said that the Government will reintroduce duty-free shopping with EU countries in the event the UK leaves the EU without a deal.  This would mean that passengers travelling to EU countries would be able to buy beer, spirits, wine and tobacco without duty being applied in the UK.

According to HM Treasury, the decision to reintroduce duty-free shopping in UK ports, airports and international train stations would mean that:

• UK excise duty will no longer be due on alcohol and cigarettes bought when leaving the UK. A bottle of wine purchased in Heathrow duty free on the way to the EU could be up to £2.23 cheaper.
• At the point of leaving the EU, people can continue to purchase and bring home unlimited alcohol and cigarettes in Europe if they pay duty on it there – as is the case currently.
• People will now also have the alternative option to buy limited amounts of duty-free alcohol and cigarettes at duty free shops in Europe instead. For example, a holidaymaker could save more than £12 on two crates of beer.
• The travel industry has been calling on the Government to re-introduce duty-free, which stopped when the EU Single Market was introduced.

This change would entitle travellers leaving the UK to visit EU destinations to benefit from the duty-free prices currently available to those travelling to non-EU destinations. The Government has also confirmed that a consultation will be launched to examine its long-term duty-free policy.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published dedicated guidance to assist small and medium-sized businesses in their preparations for a no-deal Brexit and has urged them to “prepare for all scenarios” to maintain data flows when the UK leaves the EU. The guidance for small and medium-sized businesses is not entirely new as the ICO has, in fact, tailored its previously published no-deal Brexit guidance to be more relevant and accessible to smaller businesses. 

At the moment, personal data flow is unrestricted because the UK is a member of the EU. In the event of no deal, EU law will require additional measures to be put in place when personal data is transferred from the EEA to the UK in order to make such data transfers lawful. The ICO’s guidance sets out steps to take to keep personal data flowing, such as using pre-approved contract terms. It says that:

• if you are a UK business that already complies with the GDPR and has no contacts or customers in the EEA, you do not need to do much more to prepare for data protection compliance after Brexit
• if you are a UK business that receives personal data from contacts in the EEA, you need to take extra steps to ensure that the data can continue to flow after Brexit
• if you are a UK business with an office, branch or other established presence in the EEA, or if you have customers in the EEA, you will need to comply with both UK and EU data protection regulations after Brexit and you may need to designate a representative in the EEA.

There are special customs requirements for commercial goods or samples which are imported or exported by passengers in their accompanied baggage (hand carried) or in a small motor vehicle (carrying less than 9 passengers and weight 3.5 tonnes or less). This is known as Merchandise In Baggage or MIB.

MIB goods include the following:

• goods for commercial sale
• spare parts
• trade samples

whether or not they are:

• permanently imported/exported
• temporarily imported/exported
• in transit
• liable to customs charges

HMRC has announced how these rules will be applied in the EU if we have a no-deal Brexit. This will include the introduction of transitional simplified procedures for the import or export of goods valued at below £900 and weighing less than 1,000kg. This simplification will not apply to licensed, controlled, or excise goods. For all other goods a full declaration will be required before the goods enter or leave the UK.

The new Chancellor, Sajid Javid, has stepped up plans to help ensure businesses are ready to trade post-Brexit if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. If you trade goods with the EU then you will be responsible for making customs declarations, as is the case for businesses currently exporting goods outside the EU.

To do this, you must have a UK Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI). HMRC has been warning businesses for some time of the importance of obtaining an EORI number, but less than half of the businesses that need a number have applied for one.

Following the Chancellor’s intervention, HMRC has now started writing to businesses that have not yet applied for an EORI number. In these letters, HMRC is automatically allocating EORI numbers to some 88,000 businesses across the UK. If you have not yet applied for an EORI number, you should look out for a letter from HMRC allocating you an EORI number. All the letters from HMRC are expected to be sent by the end of the first week in September.

If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, you will need an EORI number to move goods into and out of the UK. This identification number will be required even if you use a customs agent to assist in making customs declarations.

If you deal with customs processes of EU Member States, you will also need to get an EU EORI number too. An EU EORI is valid across the entire EU, and you can get this from the EU member state you are trading with. If you have a subsidiary company that also trades goods with the EU, they will need to apply online for a UK EORI as these cannot be given automatically by HMRC.

Although we have a new Prime Minister, it would seem that so far nothing has changed to bring us any closer to a Brexit resolution. In fact, it appears that a no-deal Brexit is becoming more likely as we approach the 31 October deadline.

HMRC has published guidance on visiting the EU after 31 October 2019. They have said that there will be significant changes to the rules for EU travel if there is a no-deal Brexit. This would affect you if you visit the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland from the time the UK is due to leave the EU at 23:00 GMT on 31 October 2019.

If you hold a British passport, you will need to ensure that your passport is valid for at least six months on the day you travel and be less than 10 years old (even if valid for more than 6 months). These rules will not apply for travel to Ireland, in this case you will be able to travel as long as your passport is valid for the length of your stay in Ireland. Even if there is a no deal, you will not need a visa for short trips according to European Commission proposals.

There will also be changes at border control.

• If there is a deal, there will be no changes to how you enter the EU or Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland until at least 31 December 2020.
• If there is a no-deal Brexit, your EHIC card may not be valid and you must ensure that you have proper health insurance coverage. The EHIC card will remain valid if there is a deal and it will also apply in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

In the event of a no-deal exit, there will also be other immediate changes for visiting the EU including the rules for driving, pet travel and mobile data roaming.