10 UK Export News You Might’ve Missed – Week #6
(Export News from Expordite is also published on LinkedIn)
Welcome to this edition of the Expordite newsletter, covering the export and international trade news from week 6 of 2023.
(Read last week’s updates here).
But first, please check out our new video! It’s called “How to Look Up Customs Codes and Export Measures with Expordite” and it tells you how to use Expordite software to look up your HS code and the relevant UK export measures.
Watch it below or on our YouTube channel:
And here’s the top 10 export news from last week:
UK Export News – General Updates & Statistics
1. First post-Brexit trade deal with EU nation announced as UK-Italy form export agreement
“The UK and Italy have signed an export and investment partnership, the first trade agreement with an EU member since the UK left the bloc.
Business and trade secretary, Kemi Badenoch, and Italy’s foreign affairs minister, Antonio Tajani, signed the UK-Italy Export and Investment Promotion Dialogue in Rome yesterday (9 February).
The government stated that the deal will boost UK exports, grow the economy and strengthen exports in high-performing and growth sectors, such as life sciences and digital and tech.
Another aim of the agreement is to promote inward investment in low-carbon industries including offshore wind and carbon capture storage.”
2. Mini reshuffle leads to major government restructuring
“The headline change is the replacement of the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), with a new Department for Business and Trade.
The new department will merge the business support elements of BEIS with the responsibilities of the Department for International Trade (DIT), which was set up by Theresa May in the aftermath of the Brexit vote in 2016, to promote Britain’s global trade ambitions and help secure new free trade agreements (FTAs).
Kemi Badenoch, currently secretary of state for international trade, has been announced as the new secretary of state for business and trade. She also remains President of the Board of Trade and Minister for Women and Equalities.”
Source: IOE&IT
3. UK exports reach record highs
“UK exports reached record highs of almost £400 billion in 2022, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics.
Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said the new figures “cement the UK’s position as a global services superpower”.
The trade data shows that UK services exports reached record highs in 2022, totalling £397 billion — an increase of 20 per cent compared to 2021 and up 23 per cent on exports in 2018.
The UK is the second-biggest services exporter in the world — behind only the US, and the services sector contributes around 80 per cent of the UK’s GDP.”
Source: Financial Accountant
(Get an accountant to manage your export transactions!)
4. Rhenus UK urges exporters to prioritise CDS
“Rhenus UK is urging exporters to prioritise plans to move to the UK government’s new export platform to avoid potentially costly delays. The UK’s existing legacy customs platform CHIEF (Cargo Handling of Import and Export Freight) is being replaced by the Customs Declaration Service (CDS). Import declarations moved over to CDS on 1 October 2022, with the switchover for export declarations planned for 30 November 2023.
The transfer process should be simple and straightforward for most businesses, but the switchover should be prioritised to prevent future delays, says Rob Mulligan Mulligan, UK Customs Manager, Rhenus UK. “
Source: FleetPoint
5. UK-Nigeria trade volume hits £5.5bn
“Mr Ben Llewelyn-Jones, British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, says UK exports to Nigeria amounted to 3.3 billion pounds in the four quarters of 2022.
He said that the total UK imports from Nigeria, in the period, amounted to 2.2 billion pounds.
This, according to him, put the trade volume between the United Kingdom and Nigeria at 5.5 billion pounds.”
Source: The Guardian Nigeria
6. Brexit having “serious” impact on Dorset’s exports, says chamber boss
“Ian Girling, chief executive of Dorset Chamber, said: “As a non-partisan organisation, it was important we remained neutral during the referendum but it’s now increasingly evident that our decision to leave the EU is having a serious detrimental impact on export and it is not delivering the positives that were promised.
“Increasing costs and bureaucracy are suppressing export activity and we’ve seen many businesses move their manufacturing to Europe. I also worry about the longer-term message this sends UK businesses in terms of growth opportunities through international trade.”
Source: Daily Echo
Food Export News
7. Scottish salmon UK’s top food export3 – but figures down since Brexit
“Data from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) shows that Scottish salmon exports were worth some £578 million in 2022. However, this is around £40m less than the record £617m which was exported in 2019 before Brexit.
France led the global demand for the Scots product, the figures show, with the EU as a whole accounting for 64% of salmon exports by value, and 72% by volume.
North America accounted for 24% of Scottish salmon exports by value but just 19% by volume.
In total, some 72,325 tonnes of Scottish salmon was exported to 54 countries around the globe.”
Source: The National
8. Scotch breaks through £6 billion global sales mark
“According to figures released by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA), the value of Scotch exports was up 37% by value, to £6.2bn in 2022.
The number of 70cl bottles exported also grew by 21% to the equivalent of 1.67bn.
The Asia-Pacific region overtook the EU as the industry’s largest regional market, with double-digit growth in Taiwan, Singapore, India and China as the post-Covid recovery continued.”
Source: Press and Journal
9. Welsh businesses travel to Gulfood in export drive
“Welsh food and drink producers will travel to Dubai later this month to attend Gulfood, one of the world’s largest food and drink trade exhibitions that reaches out to key countries within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Supported by the Welsh Government, 14 Welsh food and drink companies, will attend Gulfood 2023 to attract additional foreign business, under the Cymru/Wales banner.”
Source: Wales247
10. Trade Secretary welcomes record year for services exports
- “New ONS statistics show UK services exports reach record highs of almost £400 billion in 2022
- The figures coincide with Business and Trade Secretary’s visit to Mexico, where she is progressing a modern, new UK-Mexico deal to boost UK services exports further, and promoting the UK’s accession to CPTPP
- Badenoch: “This cements the UK’s position as a global services superpower”
Source: Gov.uk
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