10 UK Export News You Might’ve Missed – Week 49
In this edition of Export News from Expordite, we’ll cover the top 10 UK export news and headlines from week 49 of 2023 — December 4th-10th, 2023.
Key News:
- UKEF joins new international alliance to help export finance reach net zero
- Government announces measures to simplify trade on so-called ‘UK customs day’
- EU to delay tariffs on UK electric cars until 2027
General Export News:
1. New legislation set to ban live animal exports
“New legislation will put an end to the export of live animals for slaughter and fattening from Great Britain.
The Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill — which has been introduced in Parliament today (4 December 2023) — delivers on a key manifesto commitment to ban the export of live animals including cattle, sheep, and pigs.”
Source: GOV.uk
2. UKEF joins new international alliance to help export finance reach net zero
“UK Export Finance has rallied together export credit agencies from around the world to join a Net Zero Export Credit Agencies Alliance being launched today at the COP28 summit.
Backed by the UN’s Environment Programme Finance Initiative, the partnership will promote greater action from export credit agencies and EXIM banks in achieving net zero emissions by 2050, and will collaborate with the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero..
The alliance currently includes UKEF, Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO), Export Development Canada (EDC), and the Swedish National Export Credits Guarantee Board and Swedish Export Credit Corporation (EKN and SEK) as full members. ECAs from the UAE, Kazakhstan and Spain have also joined the Alliance as affiliates.”
Source: GOV.uk
3. UK firms to deliver €415 million sustainable development scheme in coastal Angola
“The UK has issued loan guarantees which allow British exporter Innovo Group to secure a €415 million contract to deliver critical infrastructure projects in Benguela Province, a region in the west of Angola adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean.
The support has been issued through UK Export Finance (UKEF) — the government’s export credit agency — and means that projects will now go ahead to improve the region’s potable water supply, storm drainage, sanitation, roads, public lighting, and commercial infrastructure. This includes the municipalities of Benguela, Baía Farta, Catumbela and Lobito.
Comprising 23 individual projects, the programme is expected to support 11,000 local jobs across a range of sectors including construction over the next five years.”
Source: GOV.uk
4. HMRC Guidande: International rail freight: UK border requirements and processes
“This guidance outlines the customs and security requirements of the UK government for rail freight movements entering or leaving the UK via the Channel Tunnel.
This guidance covers rail freight movements only, not other traffic flows through the Channel Tunnel, such as freight shuttles carrying heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).”
Source: GOV.uk
5. Government announces measures to simplify trade on so-called ‘UK customs day’
“The government has announced a new “package of improvements to streamline customs processes and reduce admin burdens for business”.
HMRC and the Treasury said that today’s series of announcements will simplify export and import process for traders while upholding the UK’s “high regulatory and security standards at the border”.
HMRC published the results from three consultation processes that were initiated shortly after the Spring Budget in March 2023.
The first was on the development of a voluntary standard for customs intermediaries. Most of the 55 respondents to the survey said a voluntary standard could set a benchmark, drive best practice and improve quality in the sector.
The government also announced the next stage in its Modernising Authorisations project, an initiative announced in the Spring Budget 2023.
HMRC also announced today that it will make changes to the way customs guarantees work for special procedures, temporary storage and duty deferment. The aim is to allow more traders to access these various procedures. “
Source: Phillip Adnett at The Institute of Export & International Trade
6. Amazon is expanding its logistics network to include over 300 sea routes across Europe
“Over 460,000 UK small and medium enterprises are able to reach customers across Europe thanks to Amazon’s logistics network.
British hat designers Gamble & Gunn, believe the original energy and passion that was put into creating a classic hat doesn’t die, it only changes forms and owners. Gamble & Gunn use traditional heritage hat patterns to create their quintessentially British hats — from classic flat caps to pork pie hats and fedoras. And Amazon ensures that these unique craft made products reach customers across Europe fast and hassle free.
Similar to Gamble & Gunn, from the historic Devon village of Chawleigh, more than 60,000 other small and medium-sized business across the UK are growing their businesses by selling through Amazon to European customers, recording £1.8 billion in export sales in the European Union. To support these businesses, we are investing in sea transportation to put their products closer to customers.”
Source: Amazon
7. EU to delay tariffs on UK electric cars until 2027
“Tariffs on electric vehicles traded between the UK and EU will be delayed for three years, the European Commission has proposed.
It comes after carmakers on both sides of the Channel warned they were not ready for the change to post-Brexit trade rules planned from January.
The rules were meant to protect the EU car industry, but the 10% tariffs were likely to lead to huge costs.
EU member states still need to approve the plan at a meeting next week.”
Source: BBC News
8. Why Christmas supplies to UK are at risk as weather threatens empty shelves
“Staple Christmas dinner items could be in short supply in the UK this festive period, from pigs-in-blankets to potatoes, due to the effects of climate change both at home and abroad.
Food items are not the only products at risk, as stock of popular gifts like televisions and exercise bikes, and even Christmas jumpers and tree lights, are threatened by delays to ships passing through the Panama Canal.
Empty shop shelves have already been a common sight this year, as a fruit and vegetable crisis in February meant shoppers struggled to find common items like tomatoes and peppers across the UK’s major supermarkets.”
Source: iNews
9. ’Compliant traders will benefit most’, say IOE&IT experts on webinar
“Upcoming changes to UK-EU trade rules and processes in 2024 were the subject of an Institute of Export and International Trade (IOE&IT) webinar yesterday, with the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) explained to over 300 businesses.
Senior trade and customs specialist at IOE&IT, Anna Doherty, was joined by director of strategic partnerships and international development, Kevin Shakespeare, as well as host and executive editor Will Barns-Graham, for the event.”
10. In hindsight, do you think Britain was right or wrong to vote to leave the European Union?
“As of November 2023, 55 percent of people in Great Britain thought that it was wrong to leave the European Union, compared with 33 percent who thought it was the right decision. During this time period, the share of people who regret Brexit has been slightly higher than those who support it, except for some polls in Spring 2021, which showed higher levels of support for Brexit. The share of people who don’t know whether Brexit was the right or wrong decision has generally been stable and usually ranged between 11 and 14 percent.”
Source: Statista
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