Is Your Company Prepared for Brexit?

As the Brexit transition draws to an end, rules surrounding how UK businesses operate across the new UK/EU border will come into effect on 1 January 2021.  These rules impact some obvious, and some perhaps less obvious business functions, and the threat of a no-deal exit is leaving many businesses unsure how to prepare.

UK businesses will need to take into account changes to export policies and procedures, which may involve lengthy negotiation between them and their trading and export partners.  Businesses that import livestock or animal products will also be required to update processes to ensure that they now meet updated certification requirements.  The move to GB-specific import certificates will be phased in during the first seven months of 2021, so it likely that UK and EU certification schemes will overlap during this time.

The sharing and transmission of data across the UK-EU border is likely to have the most significant impact for many businesses.  Ensuring your transfer of data between the two regions may require an alternative transfer mechanism, such as the use of standard contractual clauses.  However, the EU is currently carrying out a data adequacy assessment of the UK, so in the event that this completes before 1st January 2021 you will be to continue to transfer data into the UK without making changes to the processes.  Currently, there are no changes to the requirements when transferring date out of the UK to EU or third country locations.  Current General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will remain in UK law, alongside the Data Protection Act.

Free movement between the UK and the EU will end from January, and will be replaced by a points-based immigration system, which will treat EU and non-EU employees equally.  The Home Office has produced a podcast which discusses Business and the Future of Immigration.  It’s available on several podcast services, including Acast, Spotify, and Apple.

The UK Government has created a web site which guides users through a series of multiple choice questions in order to summarise areas that may need addressing.  It’s simple to use, and takes just a few minutes to complete.

It is clear that there is much uncertainty to be managed, and the consequences of getting it wrong seem overwhelming. Aughton Ainsworth’s services can help your business through the transition.  For more information, please contact John McMuldroch at johnmcmuldroch@aughtonainsworth.com.

While there is a wealth of information available to help businesses adapt to the new rules and regulations, a good starting point as at the UK Government web site.  There is also a series of webinars which are designed to clarify understanding of the transition process for specific industry sectors.  Aughton Ainsworth is not responsible for the accuracy or content of external web sites, and references to such web sites are provided as-is, and were deemed useful at the time of writing.