The United Kingdom officially left the European Union as of 31 December 11:00 pm and as a result, the UK is no longer part of the EU customs union or single market.
Both parties have agreed to a Trade and Cooperation Agreement. This agreement provides 100% tariff liberalisation, meaning there will be no tariffs or quotas on the movement of goods we produce between the UK and the EU.
Despite this trade agreement, Timber Trade Federation importer members still must complete import procedures and due diligence when importing timber from the EU.
The first step all our members should take is to assess their EU purchases, identify the products involved, and understand how these changes will affect them. While we note there are a few circumstances where other companies may be responsible for these new procedures, as detailed below, these instances are very limited.
VAT and excise procedures will need to be applied to goods traded with the EU, in the same way that already applies for goods traded outside of the EU, and new due diligence requirements are now in place as a result of the adoption of UK Timber Regulations, with many timber businesses trading in the customs union who were previously classed as ‘Traders’ to become ‘Operators’.
From 1 January 2021, the new UK Global Tariff will apply to all imports unless (a) the country or region has a trade deal with the UK, (b) the developing country has GSP status with the UK, or (c) an open Product Quota has been registered with the WTO. You can find out more about how these tariffs will be applied on our website.