The UK’s relationship with the EU

The UK has left the EU and the transition period after BREXIT came to an end on 31st December 2020. On the 24th December the UK Government and the EU announced that a ‘Trade & Cooperation Agreement’ (“TCA”) had been agreed, which took effect on 1st January 2021. A key aspect of the TCA is that there will be zero duty and no quotas on sales between the UK and the EU27 as long as the terms of the agreement are met, including the Rules of Origin (“ROO”).

MCUK’s planning and preparation for BREXIT

As we have communicated in previous FF articles and correspondence with you, MCUK has been preparing for the UK leaving the EU (and the subsequent transition/implementation period) since the referendum in 2016. Our preparations were extensive and MCUK was well prepared for any outcome of the UK/EU trade discussions. The TCA is welcome in that it removes uncertainty, does not bring duties on our products and allows us to move forward with some new ways of working.

New processes

Since 1st January new processes have been required to allow movement of goods between the UK and EU27. While it is still early days working with these processes, our products have been moving between the UK and EU as planned and with only minimal disruption in some instances. Despite our preparations, some additional requirements have emerged as individual nations and organisations interpret and implement the requirements of the TCA and we will continue to work with our customs agents and logistic partners to adapt to these to ensure that our products can be delivered as efficiently, effectively and predictably as possible.

REACH

UK REACH: The UK Parliament passed the UK REACH SI which incorporates a ‘REACH-like’ regulation into UK legislation. EU REACH continued to apply in the UK until the BREXIT transition period was complete. UK REACH came into force on 1st January 2021. MCUK Ltd are making the appropriate preparations and taking the necessary actions to grandfather all the registrations made previously for EU REACH into UK REACH in line with the published deadlines. EU REACH: Now that the BREXIT transition period has ended, the transfer process initiated in 2020 to transfer all registrations held by MCUK for substances placed upon the EU market to our legal entity in Holland, LI Alpha BV, is being completed. Non-UK manufactured products previously registered by MCUK/LIUK as Only Representative (“OR”) had already been transferred to LI Alpha BV in 2020. Those for MCUK manufactured products were in the transfer process at the end of December, once EU REACH ceased to apply in the UK and are being accepted by LI Alpha BV as the new OR. Letters will be available to customers to confirm contact details once this process has been completed, and in the meantime, our products continue to be compliant with EU Reach. MCUK remains committed to compliance to all applicable regulations, both existing in the EU and emerging in the UK.

Origin

We have assessed our products and they do qualify for preferential origin under the terms of the TCA. On request, we can issue a statement on origin to zero rate your products on import into the EU. The importer needs to claim the zero-rated duty on import, using the appropriate code in the import declaration. We can no longer issue a LTSD to support the EU FTA’s with other countries.

Business continuity and regulatory environment

It is MCUK’s intention that it will continue to be fully compliant and fully capable in all aspects of its business now that the UK has left the EU and the BREXIT transition period has come to an end.

MCUK would like to thank you for your engagement and involvement in this process and the resulting actions that are being undertaken.

If you have any questions, please notify these through your normal MCUK contact, or directly to MCUK’s BREXIT Project Manager, Mike Fell ([email protected]).