Posted by jonathanfullarton - March 15, 2021 10:34 am
Trading after Brexit
£20 million SME Brexit Support Fund
Update: 15 March 2021
The SME Brexit Support Fund is now open for smaller businesses to apply for grants of up to £2000. To be eligible, businesses must import or export goods between Great Britain and the EU, or move goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. For more details and how to apply click here.
What is the SME Brexit Support Fund?
The government’s new £20 million SME Brexit Support Fund provides help for small businesses so that they can adjust to new customs procedures, rules of origin, and VAT rules when trading with the EU.
SMEs who trade only with the EU can apply for grants of up to £2,000, to pay for practical support including training and professional advice to ensure they can continue trading effectively with the EU.
You can use the grant for training to learn more about:
- how to complete customs declarations
- how to manage customs processes and use customs software and systems
- specific import and export related aspects including VAT, excise and rules of origin
- to get professional advice so your business can meet its customs, excise, import VAT or safety and security declaration requirements.
Eligibility
To be eligible your business should not have than 500 employees, and your annual turnover must not be greater than £100 million.
Applications for the SME Brexit Support Fund will open soon. For further information please click here.
Importing and Exporting
The government have produced a series of Step-by-Step guides to importing and exporting goods between Great Britain and the EU.
These guides will help you:
Import goods into the UK – including bringing goods into the UK from any country, details on how much tax and duty you will need to pay and, whether you need to get a licence or certificate.
Export goods from the UK: – including how to move goods from the UK to international destinations, including the EU.
DEFRA Trader Showcases
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have produced Trader Showcases providing the latest information on exporting and moving goods from GB to the EU and NI. These provide useful information and documents for traders who export live animals or animal products.
For more details please click on the following links:
Moving goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland
Exporting goods from Great Britain to the European Union
List of customs agents and fast parcel operators
The list of agents and operators who can help submit customs declarations has been updated. For updated details please click here.
UK Conformity Assessed Marking (UKCA)
The UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) marking is a new UK product marking that is used for goods being placed on the market in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland). It covers most goods which previously required the CE marking. For more details click here.
UKNI
The Northern Ireland Protocol came into force on 1 January 2021. For as long as it is in force, Northern Ireland will align with all relevant EU rules relating to the placing on the market of manufactured goods. You must show that your products meet those rules by using ‘conformity markings.’
The UKNI marking is a new conformity marking for products placed on the market in Northern Ireland which have undergone mandatory third-party conformity assessment by a body based in the UK. For more information please click here.
Trading with non-EU countries
The list of trade agreements for trading with non-EU countries has been updated. You can view the updated version here.
Business support helplines
A list of government helplines has now been published.
For English businesses, the Business Support Helpline can help you identify the actions you need to take. Similar helplines are available for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
Details of the helplines are:
- businesses in England, call 0800 998 1098
- businesses in Scotland, call 0300 303 0660
- businesses in Wales, call 0300 060 3000
- businesses in Northern Ireland, call 0800 181 4422.
