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Transition Period Master Checklist

HM Gov­ern­ment UK TRANSITION

UK’S NEW START LET’S GET GOING Find out more at gov​.uk/​t​r​a​n​s​ition

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Busi­nesses need to take action

The UK has left the EU and the trans­ition peri­od will end on 31 Decem­ber. As we trans­ition to our new rela­tion­ship with the EU, we all need to take action to prepare.

From 1 Janu­ary 2021, there will be a series of guar­an­teed changes and oppor­tun­it­ies for businesses.

Many of these changes will be required regard­less of the agree­ment we reach with the EU on our future trade rela­tion­ship, as the UK will be leav­ing the single mar­ket and cus­toms uni­on. You can be con­fid­ent that your pre­par­a­tions for these changes will not be wasted.

You need to check what will change for your busi­ness from 1 Janu­ary 2021 and take action now, to ensure you are not at risk.

We have put togeth­er a list of actions that are rel­ev­ant to your sec­tor to help you to start identi­fy­ing what your busi­ness needs to do. We have provided a sum­mary for each action, explain­ing why your busi­ness needs to act and where you can find fur­ther information.

These actions have been cat­egor­ised into sep­ar­ate themes to help you decide which actions are rel­ev­ant to your business.

There may be more actions that are rel­ev­ant to your busi­ness. You should vis­it gov​.uk/​t​r​a​n​s​ition and use the simple check­er tool to find out if your busi­ness needs to take any fur­ther actions.

UK’S NEW START LET’S GET GOING

Import­ing and Exporting

The pro­cess for import­ing and export­ing goods from the EU will change. Busi­nesses in Great Bri­tain need to com­plete the fol­low­ing actions to con­tin­ue import­ing and export­ing with EU coun­tries from 1 Janu­ary 2021.

  • Make sure you have a GB EORI number

You will need a unique trader ref­er­ence num­ber, called an Eco­nom­ic Oper­at­or Regis­tra­tion and Iden­ti­fic­a­tion (EORI) num­ber, to com­plete cus­toms declar­a­tions from 1 Janu­ary 2021. If you do not yet have one, you can register for free by going to www​.gov​.uk/eori.

  • See if your impor­ted goods are eli­gible for staged controls

If you import non-con­trolled goods into Great Bri­tain from the EU, you may be able to defer import declar­a­tions until 1 July 2021. Most traders with a good com­pli­ance record will be eli­gible. More inform­a­tion is avail­able at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​u​sing- simplified-declarations-for-imports.

  • Check the Con­trolled goods list to see if you need to com­plete declar­a­tions from January.

If you’re import­ing and export­ing goods that are cat­egor­ised as ​‘con­trolled’ you’ll need to sub­mit declar­a­tions from 1 Janu­ary 2021. To check if your impor­ted goods are on the Con­trolled goods list, go to https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​l​i​s​t​-​o​f​-​g​o​o​d​s​-​i​m​p​o​r​t​e​d​-​into- great-britain-from-the-eu-that-are-controlled.

  • Decide how you’re going to make cus­toms declarations

Most busi­nesses choose to hire a per­son or busi­ness to help with import­ing and export­ing, such as a cus­toms agent, freight for­ward­er or express oper­at­or. They can help you with declar­a­tions and ensure you’re provid­ing the neces­sary inform­a­tion. For more inform­a­tion, go to https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​a​p​p​o​i​n​t​-​s​o​m​e​o​n​e​-​t​o​-​d​e​a​l​-​with- customs-on-your-behalf.

UK’S NEW START LET’S GET GOING

  • Check if Import VAT is due at the border

If you import any goods from the EU into Great Bri­tain, you may need to pay Import VAT from 1 Janu­ary 2021. Import VAT will not be due at the bor­der if goods in a con­sign­ment are worth less than £135. The only excep­tion to this is con­sign­ments con­tain­ing excise goods, where Import VAT (along with Excise and Cus­toms duties where applic­able) will be due at the bor­der. For more inform­a­tion, go to https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​o​v​e​r​n​m​e​n​t​/​p​u​b​l​i​c​a​t​i​o​n​s​/​c​h​a​n​g​e​s​-​t​o​-​v​a​t​-​t​r​e​a​t​m​e​n​t​-​o​f​-​o​v​e​r​seas- goods-sold-to-customers-from-1-january-2021.

  • Decide how you will account for import VAT when you make a cus­toms declaration

If you’re busi­ness is VAT-registered, from 1 Janu­ary 2021 you’ll be able to use post­poned VAT account­ing to account for Import VAT, for goods impor­ted into the UK from any­where in the world. This means you can account for VAT on goods impor­ted through your VAT Return. For more inform­a­tion, go to www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​c​h​e​c​k​-​w​h​e​n​-you- can-account-for-import-vat-on-your-vat-return.

Oth­er use­ful links:

  • How to import and export goods between Great Bri­tain and the EU from 1 Janu­ary 2021: www​.gov​.uk/​g​o​v​e​r​n​m​e​n​t​/​p​u​b​l​i​c​a​t​i​o​n​s​/​h​o​w​-​t​o​-​i​m​p​o​r​t​-​a​n​d​-​e​x​p​o​r​t​-​g​oods- between-great-britain-and-the-eu-from-1-january-2021.

UK’S NEW START LET’S GET GOING

Selling your goods

  • Use gov​.uk to identi­fy how your busi­ness can be ready to sell cer­tain goods in the UK and EU

From the 1 Janu­ary 2021 the essen­tial require­ments and stand­ards that can be used to demon­strate com­pli­ance will be the same as they are now. How­ever, there may be oth­er changes you need to make. These are:

  • Check which reg­u­la­tions apply to your product – to determ­ine what steps you or oth­ers in your sup­ply chain need to take, identi­fy what EU reg­u­la­tions are rel­ev­ant to you.
  • Check if you need a new product approv­al and begin the pro­cess as soon as pos­sible — if your product requires third-party approv­al, you may need a new approv­al espe­cially if you sell in both UK and EU. Sub­ject to nego­ti­ations, from 1 Janu­ary 2021 the EU will stop recog­nising UK approvals.
  • Check if you need to appoint a new author­ised rep­res­ent­at­ive to act on your behalf — UK-based indi­vidu­als and leg­al entit­ies will no longer count as estab­lished in the EU, and vice-versa. You may need to appoint someone to under­take cer­tain tasks in the EU or UK.
  • Speak to your sup­ply chains / dis­trib­ut­ors and under­stand new leg­al duties make sure your suppliers/​distributors/​customers under­stand the actions they need to take. If you dis­trib­ute EU goods, or have your goods dis­trib­uted by someone in the EU, you may acquire new leg­al duties.
  • Con­sider what mark­ing / labelling changes apply to your product – you may need to make changes to the inform­a­tion or reg­u­lat­ory mark­ings that appear on your product, for example to reflect changes to product approvals or new rep­res­ent­at­ives you appoint in the EU.

More inform­a­tion is avail­able at: www​.gov​.uk/​t​r​a​n​s​ition.

UK’S NEW START LET’S GET GOING

Trad­ing with the EU

After 31 Decem­ber 2020, EU trade agree­ments will not apply to the UK. The UK is seek­ing to repro­duce the effects of exist­ing EU agree­ments for when they no longer apply to the UK. This will ensure con­tinu­ity of trad­ing arrange­ments for UK busi­nesses. This means busi­nesses will have to take action.

  • Apply for an export licence to export dual-use items to the EU and Chan­nel Islands

From Janu­ary 2021, you will need an export licence issued by the UK to export dual-use items from Great Bri­tain to the EU or Chan­nel Islands. If you do not have the cor­rect licence, your goods may be held at the bor­der. Register now for an Open Gen­er­al Export Licence through SPIRE, the online export licens­ing sys­tem. More inform­a­tion is avail­able at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​e​x​p​o​r​t​i​n​g​-​c​o​n​t​r​o​l​l​e​d​-​g​o​o​d​s​-​a​f​t​e​r​-​e​u​-​e​x​i​t​#​e​x​p​o​r​ting- dual-use-items.

  • Use the ​‘Check How to Export Goods’ tool on gov​.uk to look up inform­a­tion on over­seas tar­iffs, rules and bor­der form­al­it­ies for trad­ing your goods worldwide.

Use the ​‘Check How to Export Goods’ ser­vice on GOV​.UK to check duties and cus­toms pro­ced­ures for export­ing your goods world­wide. Fail­ure to com­plete the prop­er doc­u­ment­a­tion or fol­low the cor­rect pro­ced­ures may res­ult in delays get­ting goods through cus­toms as well as unex­pec­ted taxes on goods upon entry to the des­tin­a­tion and coun­try. From Janu­ary 2021, there will be new require­ments for how you export goods from the UK. Use the ser­vice at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​c​h​e​c​k​-​d​u​t​i​e​s​-​c​u​s​toms- exporting.

  • Use the new UK Glob­al Tar­iff sched­ule to check what tar­iff will be pay­able on goods enter­ing the UK from 1 Janu­ary 2021.

If you import goods into the UK, you should check the new UK Glob­al Tar­iff sched­ule. From 1 Janu­ary 2021, the UK Glob­al Tar­iff sched­ule will apply to all goods impor­ted into the UK unless an excep­tion applies. Excep­tions include goods you import from a coun­try that has a trade agree­ment with the UK or from a devel­op­ing coun­try that pays less or no duty because it’s part of the Gen­er­al­ised Scheme of Pref­er­ences. You can check the tar­iffs that will apply to goods you import at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​u​k​-​t​a​r​iffs- from-1-january-2021.

UK’S NEW START LET’S GET GOING

  • Check changes to trad­ing with devel­op­ing coun­tries cur­rently bene­fit­ting from the EU Gen­er­al­ised Scheme of Preferences.

From Janu­ary 2021, the UK will have its own Gen­er­al­ised Scheme of Pref­er­ences. Busi­nesses import­ing goods from eli­gible devel­op­ing coun­tries will be able to get trade pref­er­ences through the UK’s new scheme. This means that you may be able to bene­fit from a reduc­tion or remov­al of duty (tar­iffs) on imports from devel­op­ing coun­tries into the UK. Check the guid­ance at https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​t​r​a​d​i​n​g​-​w​i​t​h​-​d​e​v​e​l​o​ping- nations-during-and-after-the-transition-period.

  • Use GOV​.UK guid­ance to under­stand changes to trad­ing with non-EU coun­tries from 1 Janu­ary 2021. Check if the UK has nego­ti­ated a trade agree­ment with the coun­try you will be trad­ing with.

Trad­ing with coun­tries out­side the EU may change from Janu­ary 2021. Find out about trade con­tinu­ity agree­ments the UK has signed and agree­ments that are still under dis­cus­sion at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​u​k​-​t​r​a​d​e​-​a​g​r​e​e​m​e​n​t​s​-​w​i​t​h​-​n​o​n-eu- countries.

  • Busi­nesses will be able to sub­mit applic­a­tions via the UK’s new inde­pend­ent trade rem­ed­ies sys­tem if they believe they are being injured by the effects of unfair trade prac­tices or surges in imports. Famil­i­ar­ise your­self with the UK’s new trade rem­ed­ies pro­cess on GOV​.UK.

From 1 Janu­ary 2021, if you think your busi­ness has been injured by unfair import prac­tices, you can sub­mit an applic­a­tion to the UK’s new trade rem­ed­ies sys­tem. Cre­ate an account and register your interest in UK trade rem­edy invest­ig­a­tions and reviews on the Trade Rem­ed­ies Ser­vice. For more inform­a­tion, vis­it: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​o​v​e​r​n​m​e​n​t​/​p​u​b​l​i​c​a​t​i​o​n​s​/​t​h​e​-​u​k​-​t​r​a​d​e​-​r​e​m​e​d​i​e​s​-​i​n​v​e​s​t​i​g​a​t​ions- process.

Oth­er use­ful links:

UK’S NEW START LET’S GET GOING

UK’S NEW START LET’S GET GOING

Chem­ic­als Regulations

UK REACH, the UK’s inde­pend­ent chem­ic­als reg­u­lat­ory frame­work, starts on 1 Janu­ary 2021. Any­one mak­ing, selling or dis­trib­ut­ing chem­ic­als in the UK and the EU needs to fol­low UK REACH and EU REACH rules. You will also need to apply for an import and export licence when trad­ing drug pre­curs­or chem­ic­als with EU countries.

  • Com­ply with UK REACH to trade chem­ic­als in the UK

If you want to place new chem­ic­als on both the EU/EEA (includ­ing Switzer­land) and UK mar­kets from 1 Janu­ary 2021, you must fol­low both EU REACH and UK REACH rules. You must register new chem­ic­als you want to sell on the UK mar­ket from 1 Janu­ary 2021 with the Health and Safety Exec­ut­ive. HSE will pub­lish detailed guid­ance in Octo­ber. More inform­a­tion is avail­able at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​h​o​w​-​t​o​-​c​o​m​p​l​y​-​with- reach-chemical-regulations#prepare-for-1-january-2021.

  • Reg­u­lat­ory sys­tems — Apply for licences to trade drug pre­curs­or chem­ic­als with the EU from 1 Janu­ary 2021.

If you trade drug pre­curs­or chem­ic­als from 1 Janu­ary 2021 you may need import or export licences to trade drug pre­curs­or chem­ic­als with the EU. You need a domest­ic licence or regis­tra­tion before you can apply for import or export licences, this depends on the chem­ic­al you are trad­ing. Applic­a­tions usu­ally take 12 to 16 weeks to pro­cess. More inform­a­tion is avail­able at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​o​v​e​r​n​m​e​n​t​/​p​u​b​l​i​c​a​t​i​o​n​s​/​t​r​a​ding- in-drug-pre­curs­ors-if-theres-no-brexit-deal/trad­ing-in-drug-pre­curs­ors-if-theres-no- brexit-deal.

UK’S NEW START LET’S GET GOING

Anim­al, Plant, Food, and Drink Regulations

You will have to fol­low new pro­cesses to import and export anim­als, anim­al products, high- risk food and feed between UK and EU from 1 Janu­ary 2021. Food and drink pro­du­cers, man­u­fac­tur­ers, retail­ers and sup­pli­ers will have to change labels from 1 Janu­ary 2021.

  • Register for the UK’s new Import of Products, Anim­als, Food and Feed System

If you import anim­als or anim­al products to the UK, you will need to register for the new Import of Products, Anim­als, Food and Feed Sys­tem. To register for the sys­tem you will need to cre­ate a Gov­ern­ment Gate­way account for the busi­ness or organ­isa­tion you rep­res­ent. More inform­a­tion is avail­able at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​i​m​p​o​r​ting- anim­als-anim­al-products-and-high-risk-food-and-feed-not-of-anim­al-ori­gin-from-1- january-2021.

  • Register to sub­mit Export health cer­ti­fic­ates and under­stand bor­der checks on anim­als and anim­al products for export

If you export anim­als or anim­al products from Great Bri­tain to the EU or from Great Bri­tain to North­ern Ire­land, you’ll need an Export Health Cer­ti­fic­ate from 1 Janu­ary 2021. An Export Health Cer­ti­fic­ate is an offi­cial doc­u­ment that con­firms your export meets the health require­ments of the des­tin­a­tion coun­try. You need to apply for an Export Health Cer­ti­fic­ate in advance and get your goods checked at a Bor­der Con­trol Post in the first EU coun­try they enter. You will not be able to export these goods from 1 Janu­ary 2021 if you do not apply in time. Register for the new Export Health Cer­ti­fic­ate Online sys­tem to be ready from 1 Janu­ary 2021. More inform­a­tion is avail­able at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​g​e​t​-​a​n​-​e​x​p​o​r​t​-​h​e​a​l​t​h​-​c​e​r​t​i​f​icate.

  • Use new doc­u­ment­a­tion and under­stand bor­der checks on plant products for export and import

From 1 Janu­ary 2021, Great Bri­tain, includ­ing Scot­land and Wales, will need to meet third coun­try rules to import and export plants and plant products. You will need to fol­low new pro­cesses: to export plants and plant products, goods will need to be accom­pan­ied by a phytosan­it­ary cer­ti­fic­ate applied for using the rel­ev­ant system.

A sim­il­ar pro­cess will need to be fol­lowed to import plants and plant products into Great Bri­tain from the EU from 1 Janu­ary 2021. All high-pri­or­ity goods will require a phytosan­it­ary cer­ti­fic­ate issued by the plant health author­it­ies of the export­ing coun­try and pre-noti­fied using the rel­ev­ant noti­fic­a­tion system.

UK’S NEW START LET’S GET GOING

In early 2021 new IT sys­tems will be used to import and export plants and plants products — repla­cing the cur­rent sys­tems. More inform­a­tion is avail­able at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​i​m​p​o​r​t​i​n​g​-​a​n​d​-​e​x​p​o​r​t​i​n​g​-​p​l​a​n​t​s​-​a​n​d​-​p​l​a​n​t​-​p​r​o​d​ucts- from-1-january-2021.

  • Pro­du­cers of GB pro­tec­ted products to start using new logo as part of new GB GI scheme from 1 Janu­ary 2021

The UK will have its own geo­graph­ic­al indic­a­tion (GI) scheme which provides a set of rules to pro­tect the geo­graph­ic­al names of food, drink and agri­cul­tur­al products. New UK GI logos will be avail­able to identi­fy products pro­tec­ted under the UK scheme from 1 Janu­ary 2021. Pro­du­cers of UK food, drink and agri­cul­tur­al Gl products registered before 1 Janu­ary 2021 will have until 1 Janu­ary 2024 to change pack­aging to dis­play the new UK GI logos. From 1 Janu­ary 2021 New UK products seek­ing EU GI pro­tec­tion will need to secure pro­tec­tion under UK schemes first. For more inform­a­tion vis­it: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​p​r​o​t​e​c​t​i​n​g​-​f​o​o​d​-​a​n​d​-​d​r​i​n​k​-​n​a​m​e​s​-​i​f​-​t​h​e​r​e​s​-​n​o​-​b​r​exit- deal.

UK’S NEW START LET’S GET GOING

North­ern Ire­land Protocol

From 1 Janu­ary 2021, the North­ern Ire­land Pro­tocol will take effect. Busi­nesses and indi­vidu­als will be able to move goods from North­ern Ire­land into the rest of the United King­dom on the same basis as now. How­ever, the applic­a­tion of the Pro­tocol will involve some changes for goods move­ments into North­ern Ireland.

  • Fol­low NI spe­cif­ic rules for trad­ing between GB and North­ern Ireland.

There will be some changes for goods move­ments into North­ern Ire­land from Great Bri­tain. The new Trader Sup­port Ser­vice is avail­able to sup­port busi­nesses with these movements.

The free Trader Sup­port Service:

  • will help if you move goods between Great Bri­tain and North­ern Ire­land, or bring goods into North­ern Ire­land from out­side the UK
  • will be free to use and guide you through any changes to the way goods move between Great Bri­tain and North­ern Ireland
  • can com­plete declar­a­tions on your behalf

Pro­cesses for North­ern Ire­land busi­nesses mov­ing goods to and from the European Uni­on (includ­ing Ire­land) will not change after the Trans­ition Period.

More inform­a­tion is avail­able at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​t​r​a​d​e​r​-​s​u​p​p​o​r​t​-​s​e​rvice and https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​o​v​e​r​n​m​e​n​t​/​p​u​b​l​i​c​a​t​i​o​n​s​/​m​o​v​i​n​g​-​g​o​o​d​s​-​u​n​d​e​r​-​t​h​e​-​n​o​r​t​hern- ireland-protocol.

UK’S NEW START LET’S GET GOING

Data

Per­son­al data is any inform­a­tion that can be used to identi­fy a liv­ing per­son, includ­ing names, deliv­ery details, IP addresses, or HR data such as payroll details. Most organ­isa­tions use per­son­al data in their daily oper­a­tions. If you receive per­son­al data from the EU for busi­ness use, you may need to take action on data pro­tec­tion. Addi­tion­ally, if you provide online ser­vice in the EU, you will have to ensure that you are com­pli­ant with rel­ev­ant require­ments in each EU coun­try you oper­ate in.

  • Be pre­pared on data pro­tec­tion and data transfers.

If you’re a busi­ness or organ­isa­tion that receives per­son­al data from the EU/EEA, you may need to take action on data pro­tec­tion as we trans­ition to our new rela­tion­ship with the EU. Check how you can leg­ally con­tin­ue to receive per­son­al data such as names, addresses or payroll details from organ­isa­tions in the EU or EEA from 1 Janu­ary 2021. You may need to update your con­tracts or take oth­er steps.

A UK com­pany that receives cus­tom­er inform­a­tion from an EU/EEA com­pany, such as names and addresses of cus­tom­ers, sup­pli­ers or part­ners to provide goods or ser­vices should check how they can leg­ally keep receiv­ing the data from 1 Janu­ary 2021.

To under­stand more about the steps you need to take, vis­it: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​u​s​i​n​g​-​p​e​r​s​o​n​a​l​-​d​a​t​a​-​a​f​t​e​r​-​b​rexit. A full list of EU and EEA coun­tries is avail­able at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​e​u-eea.

  • Replace​.eu top level domain names

If you hold a .eu domain, check if you need to replace it. From 1 Janu­ary 2021, you’ll no longer be able to register or renew .eu domain names if your organ­isa­tion, busi­ness or under­tak­ing is estab­lished in the UK but not in the EU/​European Eco­nom­ic Area (EEA), or if you live out­side of the EU/EEA and are not an EU/EEA cit­izen. Find out more at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​e​u​-​d​o​m​a​i​n​-​n​a​m​e​s​-​w​h​a​t​-​y​o​u​-​n​e​e​d​-​t​o​-​d​o​-​t​o​-​g​e​t​-​r​eady- for-brexit.

UK’S NEW START LET’S GET GOING

  • If you provide online ser­vices to coun­tries in the EEA, check if rules in those coun­tries newly apply.

The eCo­m­merce Dir­ect­ive cur­rently allows UK based online ser­vice pro­viders to oper­ate in any EEA coun­try, while only fol­low­ing rel­ev­ant rules in the coun­try in which they are estab­lished. This frame­work will no longer apply to UK pro­viders from 1 Janu­ary 2021.

You should con­sider wheth­er your ser­vices are cur­rently in scope of the Dir­ect­ive, and if so, ensure that you are com­pli­ant with rel­ev­ant require­ments in each EEA coun­try you oper­ate in. Depend­ing on the nature of your online ser­vices you may already com­ply with these requirements.

Find out more at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​e​c​o​m​m​e​r​c​e​-​d​i​r​e​c​t​i​v​e​-​w​h​a​t​-​o​n​line- service-providers-in-the-uk-should-do-to-get-ready-for-brexit.

  • Ensure com­pli­ance with Net­work and Inform­a­tion Sys­tems Dir­ect­ive if oper­at­ing in the EU/EEA

If your busi­ness is a UK based Digit­al Ser­vice Pro­vider to the EU/EEA, make sure you com­ply with the Net­work and Inform­a­tion Sys­tems Reg­u­la­tions and the asso­ci­ated EU Dir­ect­ive from 1st Janu­ary 2021. The Net­work and Inform­a­tion Sys­tems Dir­ect­ive provides leg­al meas­ures to boost the over­all level of net­work and inform­a­tion sys­tem secur­ity in the EU. To com­ply, you must appoint a rep­res­ent­at­ive in one of the EU mem­ber states where you offer ser­vices. Find out more at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​n​i​s​-​r​e​g​u​l​a​t​i​o​n​s​-​w​h​a​t​-​u​k​-​d​i​g​i​t​a​l​-​s​e​r​v​i​c​e​-​p​r​o​v​i​ders- operating-in-the-eu-should-do-after-brexit.

Oth­er use­ful links:

UK’S NEW START LET’S GET GOING

Work­force

The UK has left the EU and from 31 Decem­ber 2020, free move­ment of people between the UK and EU will end. Cur­rently, EU cit­izens have the right to move freely into the UK to live, work and study here. This will come to an end after the trans­ition peri­od and the UK will intro­duce a points-based immig­ra­tion system.

The new sys­tem will change the way you hire from the EU and it is import­ant you take the neces­sary steps to pre­pare. Any­one you want to recruit from out­side the UK, exclud­ing Irish cit­izens, will need to apply for per­mis­sion first, and you will need to be registered as a licensed spon­sor. Fur­ther inform­a­tion can be found below.

The new sys­tem will not apply to EU employ­ees already work­ing for you in the UK. EU cit­izens and their fam­ily mem­bers liv­ing in the UK by 31 Decem­ber 2020 can apply to the EU Set­tle­ment Scheme. Sim­il­arly, EU cit­izens who are employed, or self-employed in the UK, but live else­where, oth­er­wise known as fron­ti­er work­ers, will be able to keep their status if they are fron­ti­er work­ing in the UK by 31 Decem­ber 2020, but they will need to apply for a per­mit. Irish cit­izens will not need a fron­ti­er work­er per­mit but may apply for one if they wish. Addi­tion­ally, EU cit­izens can con­tin­ue to vis­it the UK for up to six months without apply­ing for a visa and may also par­ti­cip­ate in a wide range of activ­it­ies, includ­ing busi­ness- related activ­it­ies, such as events and conferences.

  • Sign­post your cur­rent employ­ees to the EU Set­tle­ment Scheme

If you employ EU, EEA and Swiss cit­izens, you can sign­post them to the inform­a­tion they need to apply to the EU Set­tle­ment Scheme, enabling them to secure their future in the UK. The dead­line for apply­ing is 30 June 2021. Find out more at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​o​v​e​r​n​m​e​n​t​/​p​u​b​l​i​c​a​t​i​o​n​s​/​e​u​-​s​e​t​t​l​e​m​e​n​t​-​s​c​h​e​m​e​-​i​n​t​r​o​d​u​c​t​i​o​n​-for- employ­er­s/eu-set­tle­ment-scheme-intro­duc­tion-for-employ­ers.

  • Com­ply with the new immig­ra­tion policies for recruit­ing from overseas

From 1 Janu­ary 2021, the UK will intro­duce a points-based immig­ra­tion sys­tem. EU and non-EU cit­izens will be treated equally and will need to meet cer­tain require­ments to come to the UK to work. If you want to recruit work­ers from out­side the UK from 1 Janu­ary 2021, you will need to be a licensed spon­sor. Regis­ter­ing as a spon­sor nor­mally takes eight weeks and fees apply. To find out more about the new sys­tem, includ­ing how to register as a spon­sor, vis­it: https://​pbisem​ploy​ers​.cam​paign​.gov​.uk/

UK’S NEW START LET’S GET GOING

  • Check if a visa or work per­mit is required to travel to the EU for work pur­poses and apply if necessary.

If you travel to the EU for work pur­poses from 1 Janu­ary 2021, you may need a visa or work per­mit. The coun­try you are trav­el­ling to might also ask you to have oth­er addi­tion­al doc­u­ments depend­ing on the activ­ity you per­form. This advice may be rel­ev­ant to any­one trav­el­ling to the EU for work pur­poses: this could include any­one work­ing in the private, pub­lic or third sec­tor, for example, pro­fes­sion­al and busi­ness ser­vices, man­u­fac­tur­ing, char­it­ies, or the arts. For more inform­a­tion, vis­it: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​v​i​s​i​t​-​e​u​r​o​p​e​-​1​-​j​a​n​u​a​r​y​-2021.

Oth­er use­ful links:

UK’S NEW START LET’S GET GOING

Provid­ing Services

If you’re a UK busi­ness or pro­fes­sion­al provid­ing ser­vices in the EU or EFTA region, you will need to check the nation­al reg­u­la­tions of the coun­try you’re doing busi­ness in to under­stand how best to oper­ate. You will also need to have your UK pro­fes­sion­al qual­i­fic­a­tion offi­cially recog­nised if you want to work in a pro­fes­sion that is reg­u­lated in the EU or EFTA.

  • Get your qual­i­fic­a­tions recog­nised now by EU reg­u­lat­ors to be able to prac­tise or ser­vice cli­ents in the EU.

If you have a UK pro­fes­sion­al qual­i­fic­a­tion you will need to have this offi­cially recog­nised by the appro­pri­ate reg­u­lat­or for your pro­fes­sion in each coun­try where you intend to work. You will need to do this even if you are only provid­ing short-term or occa­sion­al pro­fes­sion­al ser­vices. If you do not do this, you may be unable to con­tin­ue to prac­tice or ser­vice cli­ents in the EU from 1 Janu­ary 2020. There are dif­fer­ent rules if you are a law­yer or an aud­it­or. For more inform­a­tion, vis­it: www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​p​r​o​v​i​ding- ser­vices-to-any-coun­try-in-the-eu-ice­land-liecht­en­stein-nor­way-or-switzer­land-after-eu- exit#recognition-of-professional-qualifications.

  • If UK-adop­ted inter­na­tion­al account­ing stand­ards are not determ­ined as equi­val­ent to EU-adop­ted inter­na­tion­al account­ing stand­ards, UK busi­nesses lis­ted on EU mar­kets may need to pro­duce accounts that com­ply with EU-adop­ted inter­na­tion­al account­ing stand­ards (or an equi­val­ent) and UK-adop­ted inter­na­tion­al account­ing standards.

Com­pan­ies pre­par­ing IFRS accounts will need to use ​‘UK adop­ted IFRS’ instead of ​‘EU adop­ted IFRS’ for fin­an­cial years begin­ning after the 1 Janu­ary 2021. UK incor­por­ated groups with secur­it­ies admit­ted to trad­ing on a UK reg­u­lated mar­ket will need to pre­pare accounts using UK adop­ted IFRS for all account­ing peri­ods begin­ning on or after 1 Janu­ary 2021. UK incor­por­ated com­pan­ies lis­ted on oth­er EU mar­kets will need to com­ply with the rules of those mar­kets as well as pre­par­ing accounts that com­ply with the UK Com­pan­ies Act 2006.

UK incor­por­ated par­ent com­pan­ies with a sub­si­di­ary in the EEA and UK com­pan­ies with a pres­ence in the EEA (for example a branch) need to check the report­ing require­ments in the coun­try where the sub­si­di­ary, or branch, is based.

UK’S NEW START LET’S GET GOING

UK incor­por­ated groups that issue debt from a sub­si­di­ary incor­por­ated in the EU will need to com­ply with the rules of the coun­try where the sub­si­di­ary is based as well as pro­duce accounts that com­ply with the UK Com­pan­ies Act 2006. More inform­a­tion is avail­able at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​a​c​c​o​u​n​t​i​n​g​-​f​o​r​-​u​k​-​c​o​m​p​a​n​i​e​s​-​f​r​om-1- january-2021.

UK com­pan­ies lis­ted in the EEA need to secure an aud­it­or who is registered as a third coun­try aud­it­or in the rel­ev­ant EEA states to com­ply with loc­al audit require­ments. More inform­a­tion is avail­able at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​a​c​c​o​u​n​t​i​n​g​-​f​o​r-uk- companies-from-1-january-2021.

  • Busi­nesses should check if there are any changes to who can own, man­age or dir­ect com­pan­ies in the sector(s) and country(ies) they oper­ate in.

If you have a UK busi­ness or are a UK cit­izen, you might face restric­tions on your abil­ity to own, man­age or dir­ect a com­pany registered in an EEA coun­try or Switzer­land from 1 Janu­ary 2021. You should be pre­pared for: addi­tion­al require­ments on the nation­al­ity or res­id­ency of seni­or man­agers or dir­ect­ors and/​or lim­its on the amount of equity that can be held by non-nation­als. Find out more at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​p​r​o​v​i​d​i​n​g​-​s​e​r​v​i​c​e​s​-​t​o​-​a​n​y​-​c​o​u​n​t​r​y-in- the-eu-iceland-liechtenstein-norway-or-switzerland-after-eu-exit.

  • Busi­nesses should check if there are any changes to the reg­u­la­tions for provid­ing ser­vices remotely from the UK to the EEA. They should do this both for the sec­tor they oper­ate in, and the EEA coun­try they wish to provide ser­vices to.

If you have a UK busi­ness or are a UK cit­izen, you might face changes to the reg­u­la­tions gov­ern­ing remote ser­vice pro­vi­sion from the UK into an EEA coun­try e.g. provid­ing con­sulta­tion ser­vices over email or video call. Cer­tain sec­tors may face addi­tion­al inform­a­tion or author­isa­tion require­ments, or a require­ment to estab­lish a leg­al pres­ence in the EU to con­tin­ue provid­ing such ser­vices. This will vary by sec­tor, and also by mem­ber state.

If you provide a more highly reg­u­lated ser­vice, such as leg­al, account­ing or health­care related ser­vices, it is more likely there will be new require­ments to con­sider. You should check the rel­ev­ant mem­ber state sec­tor­al reg­u­la­tion and seek leg­al advice if you require fur­ther guid­ance. Find out more at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​p​r​o​v​i​d​i​n​g​-​s​e​r​v​i​c​e​s​-​t​o​-​a​n​y​-​c​o​u​n​t​r​y-in- the-eu-iceland-liechtenstein-norway-or-switzerland-after-eu-exit.

UK’S NEW START LET’S GET GOING

  • Leg­al pro­fes­sion­als should under­stand the changes to the leg­al frame­work (includ­ing changes to civil judi­cial cooper­a­tion) and rights to prac­tice after 31 December.

EU and EFTA leg­al pro­fes­sion­als prac­tising in the UK will no longer be able to carry out reserved leg­al activ­it­ies in the UK under their home title after 31 Decem­ber. The appro­pri­ate action will depend on the leg­al ser­vices you prac­tise and your busi­ness model.

If you want to provide reserved leg­al activ­it­ies, you will need to requal­i­fy as an Eng­lish, Welsh or North­ern Irish law­yer with the rel­ev­ant reg­u­lat­or under routes for for­eign law­yers. If you do not want to provide reserved leg­al activ­it­ies but want to work jointly with an Eng­lish or Welsh law­yer, you will need to register as a Registered For­eign Law­yer in Eng­land and Wales with the rel­ev­ant reg­u­lat­or. You can also work under the super­vi­sion of an Eng­lish, Welsh or North­ern Irish law­yer, or only under­take unre­served leg­al activ­it­ies. You may still need to register with anoth­er type of reg­u­lat­or depend­ing upon the activ­it­ies you choose to under­take, for example the OISC for immig­ra­tion advice and FCA for claims man­age­ment activ­it­ies. Find out more at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​o​v​e​r​n​m​e​n​t​/​p​u​b​l​i​c​a​t​i​o​n​s​/​e​u​-​l​a​w​y​e​r​s​-​i​n​-​t​h​e-uk- from-1-janu­ary-2021/eu-law­yers-in-the-uk-from-1-janu­ary-2021

There will also be changes to fam­ily law dis­putes, includ­ing divorce and main­ten­ance cases. More inform­a­tion is avail­able at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​o​v​e​r​n​m​e​n​t​/​p​u​b​l​i​c​a​t​i​o​n​s​/​f​a​m​i​l​y​-​l​a​w​-​d​i​s​p​u​t​e​s​-​i​n​v​o​l​v​i​n​g​-​t​h​e-eu- guid­ance-for-leg­al-pro­fes­sion­als-from-1-janu­ary-2021/­fam­ily-law-dis­putes-involving-the- eu-guidance-for-legal-professionals-from-1-january-2021)

There will also be changes to cross-bor­der com­mer­cial and civil leg­al cases. More inform­a­tion is avail­able at: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​o​v​e​r​n​m​e​n​t​/​p​u​b​l​i​c​a​t​i​o​n​s​/​c​r​o​s​s​-​b​o​rder- civil-and-commercial-legal-cases-guidance-for-legal-professionals-from-1-january-2021).

Leg­al pro­fes­sion­als should make them­selves aware of these changes and under­stand how they may affect cases.

Oth­er use­ful links:

UK’S NEW START LET’S GET GOING

Access to Research and Devel­op­ment Funding

Organ­isa­tions can apply for a fund­ing oppor­tun­ity. Each oppor­tun­ity has its own eli­gib­il­ity cri­ter­ia and scope. UK sci­ent­ists, research­ers and busi­nesses can con­tin­ue to par­ti­cip­ate in Hori­zon 2020 programmes.

  • Find out more about Hori­zon 2020 on gov​.uk

You can con­tin­ue to apply for Hori­zon 2020 grant fund­ing. Although the UK has left the EU, you’ll con­tin­ue to get any EU fund­ing you’ve already been awar­ded. UK sci­ent­ists, research­ers and busi­nesses can con­tin­ue to par­ti­cip­ate in Hori­zon 2020 pro­grammes and receive EU grant fund­ing for the life­time of indi­vidu­al pro­jects. This includes pro­jects fin­ish­ing after 1 Janu­ary 2021. Apply now to Hori­zon 2020 to secure your fund­ing. For more inform­a­tion, vis­it: https://​www​.gov​.uk/​g​u​i​d​a​n​c​e​/​h​o​r​i​z​o​n​-​2​0​2​0​-​w​h​a​t​-​i​t​-​i​s​-​a​n​d​-​h​o​w​-​t​o​-​a​p​p​l​y​-​f​o​r​-​f​u​nding.

Oth­er use­ful links:

UK’S NEW START LET’S GET GOING

Energy

The EU ETS is the largest multi-coun­try, multi-sec­tor green­house gas emis­sions trad­ing sys­tem in the world. It includes around 1,000 power sta­tions and indus­tri­al plants in the UK. These include power sta­tions, oil refiner­ies, off­shore plat­forms and indus­tries that pro­duce iron and steel, cement and lime, paper, glass, ceram­ics and chem­ic­als. Oth­er of organ­isa­tions, includ­ing avi­ation oper­at­ors fly­ing into or from a European air­port are also covered by the EU ETS. Busi­nesses should take neces­sary steps to ensure they meet com­pli­ance oblig­a­tions by a

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