Businesses and Brexit

The information on this page is aimed at helping businesses through the Brexit transition now that the UK has left the EU. We want to do as much as we can to support our residents and businesses.

Our Brexit Business Advice Service has now launched, sign up to receive bespoke Brexit business support.

• Key dates in 2021
• Advice to Small Businesses
• SME Brexit Support Fund
• EU Transition Business Resource Hub
• Local Government Association’s Brexit Advice Hub
• Brexit training grants
• Useful webinars
• Haringey Brexit Business Advice Service
• Resilience Help
• Haringey Brexit Business Advice Service - resource centre
• Post Brexit e-commerce guide
• Exporting food and drink
• Further information
• Contact details

Key dates in 2021

1 April

Movement of goods: 

• From April, all products of animal origin (POAO) will require pre-notification and health documentation and physical checks will be conducted at the point of destination; any grace periods where EU Member States may have taken pragmatic approaches to customs compliance will fall away.
• For firms trading between Great Britain (GB) and Northern Ireland (NI), they will begin to fully access all aspects of the Trader Support Service (TSS) – however, many businesses will also find that to continue transporting goods from GB, additional checks and paperwork that cannot be completed in TSS will be required – this includes many shipments of food and animal livestock.
• Goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain will be subject to certain checks and/or controls, on a phased basis: 
  • 3-month grace period - authorised traders such as supermarkets and their trusted suppliers will be given a 3-month grace period from official certification for products of animal origin, composite products, food and feed of non-animal origin and plants and plant products.

Regulation:

• Month 3 - the grace period under REACH for UK companies importing chemicals to make initial registrations will have expired; if firms cannot import the substances they need, because of cost or complications, they may run the risk of losing contracts.

30 June

• The EU Settlement Scheme deadline for registration is 30 June 2021

1 July

• Movement of goods: From July, the UK Border Operating Model will end, the full burden of customs declarations will become permanent, facing the full declarations at the point of importation and tariffs with additional paperwork and checks taking place.
• Northern Ireland Protocol: 
  • The 6-month grace period on authorised movements of restricted products such as chilled meats from GB-NI will end
  • The 12-month grace period of regulatory requirements for medicines to avoid disruption to the flow of medicines from GB-NI will end
• Data: In the event of no positive data adequacy decision by 1 July, the UK will be treated as a third country for personal data transfers, creating new legal requirements immediately and resulting in increased legal costs, interrupted data flow and reduced investment in data centres

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Advice for small businesses

To help small firms and the self-employed understand the new trading arrangements and procedures in place, the Federation of Small Businesses has created some Brexit guidance (external link). 

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SME Brexit Support Fund

SME Brexit Support Fund offers up to £2,000 support to help small businesses adjust to new customs procedures.

Eligibility:

• Up to 500 employees, and no more than £100 million annual turnover
• SMEs who trade only with the EU, and are therefore new to importing and exporting processes

Full guidance is available at GOV.UK (external link).

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EU Transition Business Resource Hub

The EU Transition Business Resource Hub (external link) provides information from the London Mayor’s London Business Hub.

Brexit transition: time is running out

There are new rules for businesses and citizens from 1 January 2021. 

• Find out more about the new Brexit rules (external link).

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Local Government Association’s Brexit Advice Hub

The Local Government Association’s Brexit advice hub (external link) is meant for regulating authorities but also provides advice for businesses.

For an overview of the indicative timeline on exiting the EU you can visit the Institute for Government (external link).

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Brexit training grants

Importers or exporters can apply for £1,000 per organisation to support the cost of basic customs training.

You can apply to get funding for recruitment, employee training, IT and training projects - find out more at GOV.UK (external link).

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Useful webinars

• BEIS webinars - a range of sector-specific webinars (external link)
• Open to Export - focus on preparing UK businesses to export post-EU (external link)
• Local London free webinars on Brexit (external link)

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Haringey Brexit Business Advice Service

We have launched a Business Brexit Advice service which will provide free hands-on support for Haringey businesses to guide them through the changes their businesses will need to make in a post-Brexit business environment.

If you are interested in receiving bespoke Brexit support, please fill out our short questionnaire. Your responses will also help to determine both the level and focus of our support offer.

Brexit business support survey

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Resilience Help

Resilience Help is a team of experts providing tailored business resilience support to small and medium-sized businesses. They have already helped over 1,500 businesses across all 31 Boroughs of London, as well as the City of Westminster and City of London, to help them to understand the changes that Brexit will bring.

Resilience Help has already run over 80 workshops, a number of 1-2-1 sessions and presentations to businesses by their four expert advisors, and is supported by a strong events team.

• Visit ResilienceHelp.com to find out more (external link)

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Haringey Brexit Business Advice Service – resource centre

In addition to providing dedicated 1-2-1 support to businesses, the team at Resilience Help will also provide regular insightful content which will cover a range of key issues to further help small and medium-sized companies to successfully navigate Brexit impact on their business. 

• Rules of Origin EU-UK Trade (PDF, 240KB)
• Product safety and requirements (PDF, 390KB)
• Navigating your business through the new customs process (PDF, 350KB)

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Post-Brexit e-commerce guide

Payoneer (external link) has put together this useful guide to help businesses to navigate the post-Brexit e-commerce landscape.

This includes information about what Brexit means for cross-border e-sellers, key dates for Amazon sellers, and guidance on reinventing your logistics.

• Download the Post-Brexit e-commerce guide (PDF, 4MB)

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Exporting food and drink

21 April 2021 Update on Export Health Certificates: Composite Food Products for Human Consumption
 
If your business exports composite food products to the EU or Northern Ireland you may need to apply for an export health certificate.   On 21 April 2021 some new EHCs were added to the list and some existing EU EHCs were replaced. You can check the government guidance (external link) to see if your product requires an EHC.  

 If your existing product requires a certificate you can continue using it until August 2021. Alternatively if your product has been added to the new list, you can apply for a certificate online (external link).

Information for businesses on how to export food and drink products can be found on the Food Standards Agency website (external link).
 

21 April 2021 - Export Health Certificates: Composite (plant and animal origin ingredients) Food Products for Human Consumption
 
If your business exports composite food products containing a combination of plant and animal origin ingredients to the EU or Northern Ireland you will need to apply for an export health certificate (EHC).   On 21 April 2021 some new EHCs were added to the list and some existing EU EHCs were replaced. You can check the government guidance (external link) to see if your product is affected. 
 
Full guidance is available from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (external link).
 
There are transition arrangements in place until August 2021 for some existing products that require EHCs enabling you to continue using existing certificates until August 2021. Alternatively, if your product has been added to the new list, you can apply for a certificate online (external link).

Please note: the FSA is not responsible for issuing any type of export certification. Local authorities can provide export certification for certain products not covered by official EHCs issued by APHA and DAERA. This can relate to products that are:

• not of animal origin
• processed meat products
• manufactured food and drinks

The type of certification that needs to be provided is specific to the product being exported and the requirements of the destination country.

See further guidance on exporting or moving food and drinks - GOV.UK (external link)

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Further information

For insight into the UK's future relationship with the European Union, you can visit the Institute for Government website (external link).

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Contact details

Brexit and businesses

Email: eric.osei@haringey.gov.uk

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