eSignature Legitimateness for Business Agreements in European Union

How to eSign a document: e-signature legitimateness for Business agreements in European Union

good afternoon everyone and welcome to today's webinar about the uk's free trade agreement with the eu brought to you by the institute of export and international trade my name is william barnes graham the senior content editor at the institute and i will be your host for this afternoon and thank you all for joining us today in just a few days since we announced for webinar we have reached our capacity in terms of registrations and we are expecting somewhere around 3 000 to join us today so thank you all for joining as such short notice again this is perhaps unsurprising given the importance of the trade deal with the eu which we will be discussing today which was agreed on christmas eve and came into effect on new year's day and under the fda uk businesses trading with the eu of course do not need to pay tariffs but there are new rules and customs processes you will need to comply with to guide you through these new rules and the implications of the trade deal in general i'm delighted to welcome today's presenter in kevin shakespeare the director of the institute's training academy good afternoon kevin happy new year i hope you managed to get some rest of the festive period how have you been you're meet kevin oh um i'm fine will thank you very much happy new year to you and happy new year to everybody on the call thank you okay great uh great to be back for webinar uh kevin has developed several educational programs for the institute and also currently manages specialist customs training resources for hmrc's trader support service kevin has also worked with invest ni scottish enterprise uk export finance the saudi export development authority and is an approved united nations international trade trainer before we move on to kevin's presentation though the institute's director general marco forgione has kindly joined us to say hello and to welcome our listeners into a new year hi marco how are you today will hi hi good afternoon how are you doing i am well i'm well uh great to have you and for everyone who's on the call today uh why has the institute pressed ahead so quickly to put on this webinar about the trade deal well well there are a couple of reasons but i think the most telling uh rationale for for hosting this this webinar today is the fact that we've had as you've said over 4 000 registrants uh for the uh for the webinar and i think it's important the the institute's role as the largest community of professionals operating in international trade is to provide help support advice guidance and to signpost where help and support is available uh and uh you went through kevin's experience knowledge and expertise uh in the introduction uh and it's bringing that to bear for our wider community that's both our members uh and all those involved in international trade you know there's there's a golden thread that runs through uh the institute for from our inception in 1935 it's it's around the principles of promoting healthy international trade and to support uk businesses to export more and the free trade agreement uh with the eu is the largest trade agreement ever negotiated and done at breakneck speed you know the the the fta is valued at 600 668 billion pounds and what's clear that is that despite uh the fact that the agreement has been signed which is brilliant all 1300 pages have been reviewed digested and the implications uh considered with regards to to this webinar but regardless of the fact that the trade deal is being agreed there are still things that every business that exports or does trade with the eu will have to do there are additional rules additional regulations that have to be complied with and today's webinar has been put together to help support businesses to understand the implications of the free trade agreement and what the trade deal means for them and their businesses and in addition to today's event the institute is developing a whole suite of other options to support members and our wider community to help them navigate the exciting new world of the uk's uh trading relationship which uh for the first time in 50 years is is uh truly globally focused and you know to quote quote boris johnson you know the the opportunity now is to create an export-led recovery and the institute takes very seriously our role in helping both uk businesses and the government to deliver on that aspiration thank you thank you marco and also inspiring words to start our webinar and as marcus says we will be signposting to some of the resources and initiatives we'll be putting on to help businesses throughout the year uh throughout this webinar uh now one last thing before we hand over to kevin we'd like to know a little bit more about you our audience and so i'm just going to launch our first poll of the day and we would like to know which of these describes you best are you an exporter importer of goods of services are you customs intermediary that could be a freight forwarder or customs agents julio carrier or are you an advisor and a few examples bit there such as legal accountancy finance governments and a fair few more as well i'm sure now while you're answering that poll just a couple of housekeeping notes firstly you can contact me with any comments or questions using the question panel on for control window to the right hand side of your screen we hope to get to a number of your questions towards the end of the webinar so please do bear in mind we have already received a lot of questions so we will not be able to get through all of them today but we will be pointing towards our technical helpline if you have any questions which you still need answering after today's webinar secondly you will receive access to today's side pack and a recording of the webinar in a follow-up email which we will be sending uh over the next day or so so please do try to listen into today's presentations because you will be able to refer back to those later one now i'll give you just a few more seconds to vote on that poll so if i do three two one and just to share the results so 65 percent of you on the on the call today are exporters or importers of goods uh we do have a few service providers as well um and a few customs videos and audios but a fair few advisors almost a quarter uh advising in some form or another but without any further ado at this point i'd like to hand over to kevin for today's presentation over to you kevin thank you very much again will uh and again good afternoon uh everybody um so um welcome uh to um to our our first webinar of the year and and uh thank you everyone for joining it's been a staggering uh amount of uh people who have registered today uh and are joining so thank you again for that so today what we're going to do is we're going to go through some headline points from the uh the trade agreement the uh trading and cooperation agreement we're also going to cover rules of origin uh which is a key aspect and one of the main talking points of the trade deal the customs and vat rules we're going to also refer back to product and regulatory compliance as well as a look at trade-in services uh digital trade and also further considerations and it's interesting i think that clearly there's a very high number of businesses on here today involved in trading services trading goods but there may be some aspects of what you do which involve trading services and likewise some of the slides we've got in trading services can also affect businesses trading in goods so the slides are hopefully of relevance to all of you so we have the next slide please so in terms of some of the headlines from the uh from a deal and you see here that we put trade and customs and it's very important to look at this very much uh in terms of trade in 2021 is around trade customs regulatory product compliance these are all key aspects of how we trade and and and we cannot separate all these different aspects so uh the headline aspect from the free from the uh trade agreement is a hundred percent tariff liberal liberalization and no tariff quotas on movement of good between the uk and the eu and the eu and the uk so in terms of businesses what does that mean no tariffs applied for goods sold to the eu and no tariffs applied for goods received from the eu but there are certain requirements that have to be met as we're going to talk about very shortly so if we have the next slide please so um so in order for these tariff-free traders were referring to it to apply businesses must meet rules of origin requirements and suddenly rules of origin have become a really key aspect of um of how we trade no longer just for trade with the european union but trade with the rest of the world as well um so the the origin uh or the trade or the movement of goods must evidence the goods are of eu or of uk origin so um so whilst whilst we have this tariff liberalization this tariff-free trade um it does in theory allow businesses to price goods as you do today so i think but businesses must know we still have exchange rate differentials we we still have pound and euro and and other currencies as well so exchange rate differential still applies some of the principles of how we trade in terms of mana um uh invoicing in local currency managing exchange rate risks still apply clearly we have new customs procedures and documentations which we've talked about previously on on on our webinars and in all our trading and learning materials that will apply and the key principles become what were known as dispatchers for goods moving become exports and what were known as arrivals become imports and those are key principles we clearly have additional costs for product and regulatory compliance that businesses uh have to take into account as well as now we have the requirement to evidence origin as well but um one of the key principles is the deal provides the opportunity to compete on quality and price but only if businesses can introduce efficient customs and trade procedures so never has it become more important that how we trade the way we trade and understanding of trade and customs uh becomes fundamental for businesses to gain competitive advantage uh and and and try and ensure they can continue to trade successfully and as you probably heard from me before those of you have listened to me before a lot of what it becomes trade with the eu becomes similar to trade with the rest of the world but if you haven't traded with the res uh with the rest of the world previously uh trade with the eu you had these new customs procedures and documentation but that also gives you an opportunity to to to look at rest of world trade as well by introducing best practices so if we have the next slide please so um uh having looked at headlines let's move around this topic of rules of origin that we keep hearing about and we have the next slide please and we'll pass on to a poll sorry thank you thank you kevin and yeah just before you go into this section we were just wanting to pick up um a a sense of how you understand walls of origin uh for your product under the free trade agreement um so the options yes no i need to know more and just while people are um answering that poll kevin you've had a few well we've had loads of questions in already one in from mark which is do all exporters from the eu need an iori number so if it's an exporter from the eu who is uh who is moving or let's say exporting goods to the united kingdom uh again it comes back to a topic we have discussed and actually is is rarely in the slice today inco terms so it really does depend on the inco terms used um and it would only be in the instance of one of the 11 inco terms that the responsibility for the export declaration would not be the requirement of the eu exporter so in the vast majority of cases the export of the eu will require an iori number if the uk um uk buyer is purchasing under x works terms then the export declaration would be made by the year by the uk buyer who would be effectively the exporter who would require the euryori number so again uh for a lot of eu businesses who have just traded with the united kingdom and not traded with the rest of the world they will not be familiar with iori numbers so it's very very important for for for uk businesses to ensure that their eu counterparty their eu supplier has an iori number yes thank you kevin and i'll close that poll very quickly and here are the results so i guess unsurprisingly given it's it's uh only been a few days uh 60 are still needing to know more a quarter of you uh do you understand the warsaw voyaging for your products and 15 no kevin any surprises there given that it's a short time span so far yeah it's it's it's interesting i guess some products will be easier to understand from the purposes of of of rules of origin um such as wholly wholly obtained product as we'll look at whereas others more complex supply chains different components it may be harder so it probably doesn't surprise me there and hopefully today will help but hopefully a series of initiatives that the institute are rolling out will also help further as well hey thank you kevin okay so one of the things i think when we refer to rules of origin one of the important elements that trade agreement refers to is the concept of bilateral commun accumulation now this was expected but effectively allows eu inputs and processing to be counted as uk input when or if when uk products or if uk products are exported back to the european union so that's the concept of bilateral accumulation the eu content is effectively counted as uk input when uk products are exported back to the eu and and the principle operates the other way vice versa as well so in in cont in the context of what that means for businesses eu goods and materials are uh accounted as uk input for origin purposes when exported to the eu and and what will so uh there's a number of examples which which we'll provide in the next few slides on that principle so we have the next slide please so um as i said the same principle applies for uk inputs and process processing being counted as eu inputs when it's exported from the eu to the uk so this concept of bilateral accumulation so it effectively allows for integrated supply chains to continue so a couple of examples we've got here is for example shoes imported from portugal to the united kingdom and then exported from the united kingdom to ireland you have this concept here of the goods coming in the eu uh inputs be being counted towards uk inputs and then re-exported or to ireland and we have another example of car parts imported from poland to the united kingdom and then exported from the uk to belgium so this concept of bilateral accumulation uh each each party the uk and eu's content and parts being counted towards uh uk inputs so um in summary a bilateral accumulation applies eu and uk materials can be used but not parts from other countries or other third countries and we'll we'll give some sort of talk about third countries later it's very much bilateral accumulation for eu and uk but we will um we i would stress that eu content can be included in a number of the uk trade deals with third countries so i guess the likes of south korea morocco for example uh would be would be some examples of that so eu content can be included uh in in in terms of uk threshold requirements with trade deals with third countries uh and again the the the institute has a a number of initiatives there in terms of provision of further information uh around that and um there were some big announcements on uh on the 1st of january in terms of the um the the the the content accumulation rules with third countries which we which we've scrutinized a number of those already so we have a next slide please so some of the principles underpinning origin and we'll think about this certainly in terms of the trade deal uh between the uk and the eu so it is a concept of proof of origin the importer is required to declare they hold proof that goods comply with rules of origin so um rules of origin have to apply um uh within this uh trade deal uh to benefit from preferential tariffs whether that's 40 50 60 and we're going to look at examples of of what those thresholds origin thresholds are shortly so they apply when you're importing into the uk from the eu but also importing into the eu from the uk so both ways again so this concept of principle of proof of origin then we have the concept of statement of origin in this case then needs to be provided on the invoice uh preferably the commercial invoice and any other commercial document excluding the bill of lading and it describes the originator originating product in sufficient detail for it to be identified so um ideally in in enough detail down to each tariff line and the exporter is responsible for it being correct so they're making that declaration on the commercial invoice providing the sufficient detail for it to be identified uh in particular down to the actual tariff commodity classification code line um in that regard if we have a next slide please so um some other principles um the this these trade factors are underpinned and it's referred to in the trade agreement by importers knowledge so it disallows the importer to claim preferential tariff based on the evidence they have to obtain from the originating status of the imported products and that could be a statement of origin or that could be a suppliers declarations some of you will be familiar with the concept of long-term supplier declarations so um and and there is if you like an easement here until the 31st of december this year 2021 if claiming preference on behalf of importers knowledge or making a statement or making out a statement of origin you do not need to hold a supplier's declaration at the time of claiming preference and this applies for goods imported from or exported to the eu so there is this easement that you don't you don't need to have or hold that supplier's declaration at a time of claiming preference we would stress however it's best practice to do so and certainly after the 31st of december 2021 you will need to do so if we have a next slide please so um just a couple of points because it's uh we we get of quite a few questions on on on this around the rank system uk exporters will not need to be rex uh registered so as a registered exporter or or to be a have approved export of status although they must hold a gbe or renumber so importer and exporter must maintain records for at least four years and those records can be stored in electronic format but we would stress obviously record keeping proof of export proof of import um is absolutely essential so all the documentation all the records are in one export file and uh and and in an import file as well so if we have a next slide please so um again a summary of rules of origin what the free trade agreement says only originating goods are able to benefit from tariff-free access so um so rules of origin are based on tariff code so each tariff code can have a different rules of origin and in the examples we're going to look at shortly that you'll you'll you'll see what i mean there so we have a next slide please so when we talk about goods wholly obtained so it's goods wholly obtained in either the eu or uk will benefit from tariff free access so clearly there'll be a number of products originating from the united kingdom which will be uh wholly obtained so food products beverages for example goods made exclusively for materials produced in either the eu or uk benefit from tariff free access so the bilateral rules of accumulation that we've talked about but goods containing materials imported from other countries outside the eu and uk need to meet product specific rules of origin which are listed by tariff heading so again so it could be 40 50 60 as we're going to look at shortly so there's this different element in terms of rest of the world if we have a next slide please so let's look at a couple of sector examples here and and and motor vehicles clearly has been one of the key sectors impacted here and in this case for motor vehicles we have different origin requirements uh by product type tariff line and we have as referred to a lot in the uh trade agreement the concept of max nom so that means the maximum value of non-arranged non-originating materials expressed as a percentage so as we can see here in in terms of uh subheading 8701 uh in in in the first bullet point the maximum element is 45 percent um so he is so e effectively there there is a higher threshold there for meeting the origin requirements for for for subheading 8701 vehicles other than railway or tram way rolling stock so effectively that requires 50 percent 55 sorry origin requirements there so don't they the the maximum maximum element uh is uh is 45 but if we go to say battery cells battery uh battery modules we suddenly see the maximum is 70 and then we have hybrids uh at 60 so we can see a higher level there is acceptable so a lower percentage threshold for the likes of products for electric cars hybrid cars and i guess there's so very very a couple of reasons for that um uh one is is obviously that uh uh cleaner cars cleaner energy better for the environment um heavily integrated supply chains and and and the need to boost the production of electric and hybrid cars in the european union the uk and also to uh uh to support um uh goods and third countries as well certain likes of south korea for example so so we can see different elements there in in motor vehicles by different tariff lines so it's important to recognize that to have the correct commodity code to look at the axa the the maximum value of non-originating materials if we have a next slide please so another sector example would be uh medical but if we look at medical first of all just a couple of other elements and and um the reason for picking out these two is there's separate annexes for the likes of medical and motor vehicles um in the actual trade and cooperation agreement the tca so in the case of medical there is mutual recognition of quality assurance inspections through uh through gmp authorization so go through good manufacturing practice there is the ability um to extend uh amend or suspend recognition however but um there is a requirement for 60 days notice for that to apply but there is a working group on medicinal products which assists all parties on the technical barriers to trade so in terms of recognition uh mutual recognition medical is has if you like a special place partly because of the importance of the medical sector but if we go down to to different chapters and and different uh high level uh commodity codes or the first four digits we can see here that the level of max norm in this case is 50 so 50 uk or eu origin is required in these instances for medical sector so we have different percentages for different sectors and different tariff lines so for your business the important thing is is to obviously look at a commodity code and determine where your goods are coming from are they wholly obtained are they goods from the uh the uk and the european union or are they from uh other countries in in the rest of the world to actually see the level of origin now even after that there's still some complexity around rules of origin so the institute has a number of uh initiatives including a rules of origin checker that we're introducing to to to to allow businesses to contact us as members uh and and and actually check the origin requirements if we have a next slide please so um we now move on to customs and vat rules and unconscious will have a few polls coming up as well so if we have the next slide please so um in in terms of v80 we just to stress we had a a very big vat webinar in december and and you can see the link there to the uk customs academy resources uh and uh we we have a number of initiatives we've raised on v80 including a new set of training courses for 2021 which i'm conscious that a number of businesses have already signed up for but basically on vat what the trade agreement says is that either party in the uh which is either the uk or the european union member state can make a request to the other to recover unpaid customs duties excise fat on its behalf so that means that the um that the member state can in this case go to the uk authorities and request unpaid customs due duties excise uh um or v80 that's unpaid if we have a next slide please so customs and trade facilitations and again this is an area which might just seem some terms but the principles of the wto trade facilitation agreement and revised kyoto convention apply now some of you will think well what does that mean why is that important there's a couple of things to bear in mind it means that customs and trader principles with the eu become the same as traders the rest of the world but but in this case the uk can apply the principles of wto principles and we're going to look at some some examples of what that means and it does mean that the way we trade can change and we can introduce best practice to the way we trade if we have a next slide please so over to will now for a poll thank you thank you kevin and uh mckenna is going to touch on these in a second but we want to know before kevin um talks about them do any of you already use any of the following special customs procedures at present the options there include aeo customs warehousing customs freight simplified procedures approved exporter status or inward and outward processing and you can select multiple of those options uh while people are answering that question kevin we've had we've had lots of questions but just to pick up on a couple of the points you've already mentioned we've got a few people asking where you can find more information regarding uh max noms uh stephen was among one of her many asking that question where can people find that information yeah so um it would be within the details of the actual trade agreement itself so um what we'll do afterwards is is is is will make available some information but um i i'm conscious that um uh within within understanding what the rules of origin are that for some products and some businesses that it can be uh can be quite tricky so which is why the institute is trying to support and introduce uh new initiatives for uh for for our members around rules of origin checkup but good question thank you thank you and i know you said we've done the webinar on v80 but we did have a few people asking so andrew's uh asked he's interested in how v80 will change for sales to eu customers both b to b and b to c his company is in retail and they do both bricks and clicks so online and high street uh so can you say a little bit more about these b.a.t please yeah so if we think about vat first or in terms of trading in goods or physical movements the main change is to import v80 becomes payable upon importation and and that as we've referred to previously does depend on the inco terms that are being used if under 10 of the 11 inco terms the import v80 is payable by the by the eu importer they will have to put steps in place to defer payment to that vat some countries do have postponed v80 accounting in place in other cases it will require a fat deferment account with the customs authorities or the vat authorities of the country concerned so for trading goods that is the main change uh uh is the import vat becomes available upon importation for trade-in services it's very much based around the place of supply rule for that registered businesses so if you're selling b2b on trade-in services uh then then it's uh then it's a place of supply so an example that i've used before is if it's a uk business uh supplying to a spanish fair registered business uh the place of supply is spain and the import that is payable by the spanish and fat registered business if it's a non-vat registered business or a consumer business then fact is payable uh based on the place of sale so in that case the uk and those rules um effectively applied prior to 2021 and they apply to same after 2021. thank you kevin there's been some interesting coverage on v80 and the overall changes in the um in the ft today so i recommend having a look at that if you get the chance just to close that poll um so interestingly 50 of you voted on this question because not everyone will use these already so a half of you already using these procedures of which uh it looks as a inward and outward processing is the most used of 46 percent uh kevin any any surprises there any any suggestions or yes i mean that there's there's a good level for the for the 50 percent who did vote obviously for the 50 percent who didn't if it is applicable to your business do learn more about them and and for those of you for the 50 of those who are not using that moment do consider them uh obviously because of time today we can't go through um the benefits of all these in detail but but because of the changes of the trade agreement these um and the way we trade in 2021 these special procedures and also customs authorizations are going to become more and more popular so businesses must consider using them more but very interesting and thank you everyone for for voting there yes thank you everyone for voting and we may come back to that question in a short while but yeah over to you kevin to say a little bit more about those procedures thank you very much so uh so effectively the customs and trade facilitation which is again a separate chapter in the in in the trade deal uh allows uk uh businesses to implement best practice so it really is allowing more use of customs authorizations and special procedures there is reference in the trade agreement to mutual recognition of aeo safety and security schemes which matches other mutual recognition schemes that the eu has but in the case of of the uk and the eu it potentially potentially gives greater opportunities for fewer safety and security checks when moving goods across border and bearing in mind like some aspects of this trade deal that this is the start of the journey of the trading arrangement between the uk and the eu and the idea of of fewer checks is it facilitates legitimate trade by addressing these barriers of for traders so fewer safety and security checks so we would expect to see more about interpretation and use of aeo between trade between the uk and the eu as we move forward there are also other elements in the customs trade and facilitation which are referred to that talk about potentially bespoke agreements so cooperation for example roll on roll off boards row reports like dover and holly head and also exploring possibility of sharing import and export declaration data and and um and setting up program and again these are not just words the way we move forward in trading between the uk and the european union should adopt more of these principles of the wto trade facilitation agreement how we trade reducing the barriers to trade and this is being looked at globally not just in the eu and uk so we we would expect to see some dramatic movements initiatives by both the wto and the wco the world customs organizations to implement simplified trade trade facilitation if we have a next slide please so in terms of authorization procedures we had some in the poll but we would strongly recommend that businesses consider some of the benefits of these if we have the next slide please so um and this is really an interesting concept because most eu fda's free trade agreements include what's called a no drawback clause meaning that tariff preferences cannot be claimed if the export has obtained a duty exemption but this in this case with the eu this clause does not exist in the um the eu uh uk trade and cooperation agreements so both parties not just the uk party the eu can can enjoy the reduction in the duty here and this is about trading effectively this is what this the fact there's no drawback clause gives businesses this opportunity and it's a huge opportunity so custom special procedures provide many benefits just as just a summary deferment of tariffs duties in fact until goods are moved into free circulation into the home the domestic economy upon import processing of raw materials components into finished goods storage a storage of finished materials before re-export and import and upon re-export import duties tariffs and v-80 is eliminated so suddenly we can see use of these authorizations because for the first time for many years when you're moving goods from the uk to eu these become exports they are no longer arrivals so if we have a next slide we can look at some a couple of examples or the next slide after this we also have authorizations we have custom special procedures but we have customs authorizations such as cfsp customs freight simplified procedures approved exporter status and clearly aeo authorized economic operator and increasingly uh the way the world is moving through the wto trade facilitation agreement these trade facilitation benefits will become greater uh and trade in 2021 willing will result in increased use of these procedures and interestingly importantly in the united kingdom great britain from 2021 financial guarantees are no longer required for use of custom special procedures with the exception of high-risk traders so that is a big push and a big benefit to businesses in not requiring bank guarantees to use these special procedures if we have a next slide please so an example of customs authorizations and procedures so in 2020 goods imported from china could be thailand taiwan uh other countries subject to import terrorism vat um and then they enter a production process then the finished goods are sold to the eu but the goods from china are subject to import tariffs and vat from 2021 if you are using a customs authorization for example inward processing and you need to be approved obviously by customs um the goods imported from china the import tariffs and the v80 is suspended they then enter a production process and the finished goods upon export to the eu the tariffs and vat are eliminated so suddenly we can see big benefits in the supply chain for all elements of the supply chain the uk uh business and the eu business as well so that's important to recognize there's benefits throughout the whole supply chain and effective use of customs authorizations and procedures if we have the next slide please and uh now on to another poll thank you will yes as mentioned we're going to come back to this question but now there's a slightly different uh element to it so we're going to ask you if you're now interested in using any of the following uh custom special procedures i'm wondering kevin if i know if these are often quite complex uh procedures but could you give a one line on each one just to help people who may be less familiar answering this question yeah so i i guess the the the um the concept authorized economic operator we've talked about it in terms of aers um safety security there's aoc custom simplifications as well is is is to have the the benefits around safety and security checks uh customs wear and also mutual recognition schemes and in some supply chains it's important to be recognized as an authorized economic operator and a lot of supply chains customs warehousing where where effectively the goods are being held in storage or out of customs duties uh um and you do not pay customs duties until those goods are moved into free circulation or you don't pay any duties of that if uh if it's uh if it's subsequently re-exported customs freight simplified procedures uh declarations are you you make a simplified declaration so goods uh require less data sets on the customs decoration you make the full declaration or the summary declaration for working day the following month but it also allows you to bulk declarations as well approved exporter status and some of you will be familiar with that within the rex system the registered exporter system uh uh the likes of japan and south korea for example and other eu export markets reduces the requirements for certificates of origin and actually cuts the cost down inward output processing is if we look at inward process an example good uh component parts come in turned into finished goods and if you re-export those goods uh no tariffs and v80 is uh is payable that's a very simplified um maybe quick overview thank you hey thank you thank you kevin and uh i'll give people a few more seconds to answer that given uh they may want to digest that information um we did get a if you've had a few more questions in front of the users again thank you everyone for putting these through uh one from patricia which has been asked by a few people which is asking around uh northern ireland does the trades will affect trade of northern ireland at all and kind of whatever now the new requirements for trade with northern ireland from great britain yeah so with regard to northern ireland which obviously is a whole separate subject uh there will be will be the requirement for goods moving from gb great britain to northern ireland will be the requirement for inbound customs declarations as well as entry safety and security declarations so there are changes there um yeah and whilst whilst there is this um uh no tariffs this trade deal if goods are a risk of moving from northern ireland to to to southern ireland uh um businesses if they are at risk still have to meet the rules of origin requirement so there is a uk trusted um uh trailer scheme uh which businesses uh can apply and and if you like self-evidence that the goods are staying in uh in northern ireland we would recommend obviously for you there to look at the trader support service obviously um lots and lots of companies have registered already if you are moving goods and look at the northern ireland customs and trade academy because there are changes to procedures there are some aspects of trading with northern ireland in terms of regulatory sanitary and phyto sanitary which is similar to trading with the european union thank you kevin thank you very much and we'll we can send information about the trader support service and the trading sports ever trader scheme as well um to just close that poll and share the results um interestingly there was a surge of people answering inward and outward processing after the explanations were given so that's very interesting to note um aeo and custom effects simplified procedures and approved exporter also fed quite well less interest in customer warehousing perhaps but um some interesting results there uh kevin yeah no again thank you everyone for completing it it is it is interesting and we would expect to see a surge in these procedures and even even things as you say like customs freight simplified procedures uh which are going to become more and more visible as well so thank you everyone again for that so if we move forward i'm conscious of time and we want to get to questions so i am happy to go on after after 3 p.m if needed uh the next few slides probably will be a bit quicker uh partly because the information in in the actual trade agreement is not as detailed so if we go to product and regulatory compliance so effectively um not really too much is said in product and regulatory compliance um but and the basic principle is is is to provide goods to both the eu and the uk market you will need to meet both sets of standards and regulations so for example in the eu we have the ce marking for products with a health and safety impact and in the uk we have the ukca market the the uk however has announced grace periods for goods placed on the uk market such as goods for example carrying the eu ce market and for food labeling that is not the case with the european union if we have a next slide please so looking at sps sanitary and phyto sanitary there is an sps chapter which states that the uk and the eu can maintain fully independent sbs rules effectively to protect humans animal plant life and health so each party maintains their right to independently regulate the rules but from a business perspective as as we have talked about previously and i appreciate some businesses this may be new there are new requirements for business including export health certificates and phyto sanitary certificates and that is obviously a key aspect of trade as well as well as trade customs is this requirement for meeting sps measures product and regulator requirement again we are at the institute are here to try and help support businesses in those aspects covering all aspects of international trade as well if we have a next slide please so we're now going to look in trade-in services and uh if we have a next slide please you've probably heard a lot of commentary about trading services not so much as being covered and that's probably broadly correct but let's just go for a few slides here uh and clearly there will be an evolving involving picture on trading services with which the institute is heavily involved as well the uk and eu have declared an intention to reach a memorandum of understanding with a view to both sides recognizing each other's financial regulations as equivalent so this concept we have passport in at the moment for financial services um what is being worked towards is equivalence so clearly clearly different um and that would affect firms in different ways depending probably on on the um on on the sides of the firm but also recognize in some cases the preeminence of the of the likes of the financial centers such as the city of london which is extremely strong and a global center if we have the next slide please so mutual recognition of professional qualifications this was a key area an important area for service sector businesses the uk and the eu have agreed a framework for recognition of qualifications but it is a framework and it is based on recent eu free trade agreements because recognition of professional qualifications is becoming more important within trade agreements as a whole but we are awaiting further clarity on this but it could be the case that applications have to be made for some individual countries for qualifications to be accepted so in some some sectors in consultancy for example accountancy legal services this could be an issue in terms of mutual recognition of professional qualifications clearly there is scope for further agreements to be reached next slide please so but uh business travel again as we headed towards no deal potentially in october um uh 2019 this was talked about uk short-term business visitors can travel to the eu for 90 days in any 180 day business period same as what was talked about previously and the uk and the eu have also agreed not to impose work permits on business visitors for establishment purposes so two important aspects in terms of business travel 90 days in any 180 day period next slide please so um as we come towards the end now digital trade that we have the next slide please so there is the chapter on digital trade and if you're involved in this it is worth looking at it which covers electronic transmissions um neither the uk or eu will impose customs declarations on the electronic transmissions um neither the uk or eu will discriminate against electronic signatures or electro electronic documents there are some sectors i guess such as broadcasting and gambling where that will not apply uh and there is a commitment to cooperate on digital trade issues in the future such as uh blockchain artificial intelligence but if that applies to you it's worth looking at the chapter on digital trade next slide please so data transfers is a key area that we have talked about previously the uk as has noted previously has agreed to recognize eu data standards as equivalents but the the eu has not yet agreed an adequacy decision in respect of transfers to the uk however because of potential issues this could have raised because the adequacy decision has not been reached um there is if you like a data bridge for four months with a possible two-month extension um which allows procedures effectively to be operated as a presence so you're originating uh personal data transferred to the uk can still apply for up to six months um as long as the uk maintains its data protection standards as it does as it did at the 31st december but please look at a recommendation here from the ico the information commissioner's office businesses should take precautions do look at the site this is really really important because if there isn't a a an adequacy agreement signed after six months if we have a next slide please okay so finally further considerations i'm going to go through these very quickly because these are these are considerations as opposed to items in the trade agreement so next slide please so first of all trademarks sorry so in terms of trademarks um it's important to know the registered european union trademarks no longer protected in in the uk um they are they are now protected as domestic uk trademarks which have been automatically allocated from the first of january so from the 1st of january right holders can can rely on these uk rights in enforcement proceedings but any owners of pending eu trademarks can retain their trademark protection if they refile in the uk up to the 30th of september but from the 1st of january all uk trademark proceedings must have a uk address for service so again very important to think about this whether you're trading goods or trading services around a trademark position next slide please so uk global import tariff applies we've looked at that previously and again please contact the institute for further information next slide please trade continuity agreements there's been a number of trader continuity agreements signed in the latter part of december of december including turkey as well as the european union uh there are some which are fully to enter into force but uh in the likes of canada for example but the but there will be tariff free trade that's been announced there uh there are still a few countries like serbia where trade agreements are still to be signed we're hearing that ghana trade agreements should be signed very shortly but do look at that and do look at your profile of rest of world trade and do consider the trade agreements in the context of rules of origin and next slide please generalized system of preferences the uk has a new gsp scheme also incorporates elements around regional accumulation as well which is quite interesting uh that needs to be considered there is a a big spreadsheet with details of gsp and you could argue it's quite complicated in terms of tariff lines and what products and what countries apply but again the institute is here to support you around gsp and the requirements there as well next slide please and tariff rate quotas um for those that don't operate on a calendar year basis there's been announcements of tariff rate quotas that will apply if that does apply to your business uh meat products serials for example do look at that web link and the i think the next slide um please commodity codes remain aligned to the eu these may change over time but for now commodity codes will match eu so any changes to eu commodity code will match in the uk so in in the short term possibly median term commodity codes remained aligned to the eu but they could change over time next slide please so i'm not going to talk too much about this you'll have to slide it's it is fair to say that there are enforcement mechanisms for the trade deal which are actually quite strong so if there are divergences there could be the likes of anti-dumping duties countervailing duties put in place if there's deemed to be significant divergence movements if you like rebalancing clauses so there is something that should be born in mind for how businesses trade as well and next slide please which i believe is poll oh oh sorry it's not a poll so um we'll leave this slide on screen what we wanted i've talked around lots of exciting new initiatives from the institute in 2021 we are announcing some of those including new lunch time learning sessions and we're also introducing a number of consultancy packages as well but also some checkers as well so rules of origin checker vat checkers aeo checkers aeo suitability checkers so please contact the institute um we will obviously reach out and very much these are available to members of the institute you will have you have discounts for for membership as well as the other members member benefits such as the technical helpline which we've seen from our members and our new members a big surge in questions and inquiries um but please do take advantage we now have the opportunity in the uk to really trade effectively and to introduce all these new procedures as long as we understand how we can maximize them to gain competitive advantage so that's it for me and i'm very happy to go on a little while to take some questions thank you thank you kevin thank you for offering that extra time and um for a very com comprehensive uh presentation as far as as competitive as you could do i think within an hour on a 1300 page document um as kevin mentioned we will do a few questions now we've had absolutely loads of questions hundreds so we won't be able to get everyone's i'll try to group these questions as far as possible um but please do look at the technical helpline um which kevin just mentioned if you do have questions uh following this webinar um so one just going back to origin there's loads of people have asked around cumulative rules of origin so nigel said uh product is some if your products assembled in the uk from components sourced 100 from the eu would this qualify photography trade under the new agreement uh the answer is yes it would so effectively um under the bilateral accumulation the goods come from the eu to the uk they count as uk input so they would apply yes thank you thank you we've had a few people ask a question around your favorite topic kevin incoterms lucy's asked with us having a trade tour now does this mean that if we were to trade ddp do we need to be that registered in the destination country and we've had a few questions to affect yeah so if you're if you're a uk company selling on ddp terms or exporting obviously now on ddp terms um you you would uh you would be responsible for the import vat so in in most circumstances that will require you to be fat registered uh in the in in in the european union country uh and um that that depends on a couple of factors a number of countries that you're um you're exporting to the first point of entry into the european union uh that depends on number of factors but a basic principle is you would be you you would need to be that registered now there's some instances where agents and forwarders may be able to support you in in terms of payment at a vat using their vat deferment accounts but um i would sort of refer back to the webinar that we had in late december and about training sessions we're providing and about support service we're providing as well uh uh in in the context of the importance of v80 but in answer to question if it's ddp yes and there are a number of considerations that businesses have to bear in mind thank you thank you kevin a few people you did touch upon it but a few people are asking around certifications for animal trades or products of animal origin um could you just recap what are the requirements for that sort of trade yeah so if you're moving goods of uh of anna more origin that would that would require a an export health certificate uh if you go on the app website the animal plant and health authority there there are a uh uh details of the registered vets for that purpose but there is a requirement for an export health certificate which would have to move with the trade journey so that is a requirement for moving goods off products of random origin if it's a composite product such as a sandwich or something like that then there are there are percentage rules which apply thank you a few people asking about transit as well so sylvia's asked if a uk business ships to germany does it have to be done under transit in order for the german customer to pay duties in germany and can you say a little bit more about transit or should we touches on it so far yeah so again it's a good question and again please refer to some of the work that we've done on transit as well and also happy to support that um so um if goods uh effectively by by moving goods from let's say uk great britain to germany goods can move under transit procedure which moves um uh which moves the uh the declaration and the duties and bats to the to the final point which in this case would be germany so if they were to move through france if they didn't move under transit procedure that would be at the first point of entry into the eu in this case france so it is more likely that they would move under transit but you would need to be authorized as a business or your freight forwarder audio would need to be authorized to use transit procedures so you have to be approved to use transit procedures thank you we've had a few people ask around if you're importing a a batch of goods or yeah if you're importing a battery goes from china and then we export them into the eu do duties apply again um if you um if you are using a custom special procedure such as customs warehousing or remote processes appropriate then then uh import v80 uh import duty and import v80 is suspended uh upon import into uh into the uk uh and then eliminated uh uh upon upon export to the european union if you do not have a approval to use a custom special procedure such as customs warehousing or inward processing then duties will apply and they will have to be paid upon importation into the uk unless you have a uh effectively a duty deferment account and it's important to also mention that duty deferment accounts normally require bank guarantees but from from from the first of january 2021 a financial guarantee is only required to support a duty to firm account for high-risk traders but yeah but you need to use a custom special procedure otherwise duty and that will apply thank you i'll do one last question and thank you everyone for staying on the line there's over 2 000 of you still on the line so i was really grateful for that and the last question it comes from saudi a few people are something similar um and it's uh it's around helping our eu customers to understand what they need to do how important is it for companies to to keep those relationships and communication going with eu customers and what should they be saying yeah it it it's it's important under any circumstances in in whatever environment we're trading for customers and suppliers to communicate and this is no different but um there are changes and it's important for everyone to understand those changes uh to work together and sometimes we're working together it can generate more business because you're you're being proactive but in this instance also there are opportunities to use customs authorizations custom special procedures which can benefit the whole supply chain so i would argue it's never more never more important now to communicate but to also understand the processes of how you can work together to create stronger supply chains and and also very robust supply chains using trade and customs facilitations and procedures thank you kevin and we did actually have one last pile which i think we've got enough people stood on to well we've got plenty more with enough people to launch this pole so it's something we were asking throughout last year during the transition period was just asking how ready you are now for um for trade post transition um obviously it's now changed we have a free trade agreement so the terms have changed slightly but it'd be really interesting for you to tell us your readiness now but uh while people are answering about paul uh kevin it's a chance for a griever thank you so much for that presentation um absolutely very comprehensive presentation and uh hopefully people found that useful as well as some of the answers to the questions and as mentioned if you do still have questions um please do uh look at the ioe membership and the technical helpline offering um another things including the training the launch time session learning sessions um please do look into all of that because there's plenty more support you can provide and so just while giving people a few more seconds to answer that uh we covered an awful lot today as marco mentioned earlier the free trade agreement is the largest ever agreement by the eu has signed it it covers 668 billion pounds worth of trade between the uk and eu and so kevin well done on compressing all of that into uh just over an hour's presentation we will be continuing to provide webinars and information about the deal on our site at export.org uk and if you do need further support or assistance please do remember to look at our membership packages or get in touch with us on the email addresses listed on the site i'll give you a few more seconds to answer the poll which i would close now so encouragingly there's a fair few people who are ready almost 50 percent are quite all all very ready 41 still have work to do to to get ready for the new terms of trade uh a few percent not already eight percent unsure um for those uh 11 obviously androids who are still right to do we are we are there to help uh kevin any surprises any thoughts on that on that poll now again just to say thank you to everyone today for for for for attending for completing the polls uh it's um it's it's interesting and i guess for all businesses it's it's really best to just reflect on your business you know what you do best and if you can mirror what you do best with efficient customs and trade procedures then you you you have a wonderful opportunity going forward and thank you again thank you kevin for those stirring words and um i think we're going to now bid goodbye but i will leave this slide open for a few seconds just you have a chance to digest that we will be sending a copy of the slides and a recording to everyone afterwards but uh yeah thank you everyone for joining and have a great have a great year