Exports from Ireland into Great Britain have soared in the first half of 2021 whilst GB exports across the Irish Sea have fallen.
According to the Irish Central Statistics Office, exports to Great Britain (excluding NI) have risen 20% in the first six months of the year, rising by over €1 billion to €6.7bn.
This means activity from Ireland into GB has overtaken activity flowing in the other direction, with GB exports falling by 32% to €5.3 billion.
Food, live animals and manufactured goods have been hardest hit.
Why has the balance shifted?
In a word – Brexit.
The UK’s departure from the European Union and the single market has hit British exporters harder than their Irish counterparts due to border checks on shipments to the EU. However, for Irish and EU exporters into Britain, a more phased approach of checks has been implemented with the UK government opting for a 12-month transition period.
Read more: UK signs new trade agreements, closes in on NZ deal
As a result, all food and plant exports into the EU from UK firms have been subject to sanitary and phytosanitary checks since the start of the year, whereas Irish businesses have not been subject to the same levels of red tape.
If your business is still working to adapt to the post-Brexit trading environment, we can help. See our free Brexit Knowledge Bank and expert downloads and resources here.
Has your business deferred Customs Declarations since the start of last year?
If so, you have 175 days from the date of import to submit the full declaration. That time is nearly up. You or your customs agent must file with HMRC within that deadline.
Do you or they have the capacity to cope with the volume of entries required? Do you need additional support?
Go Exporting is pleased to offer our Customs Agency service to take up the excess. Don’t be caught out. We can help.
Contact us today for a no-obligation discussion on your requirements and how we can ease your Customs Declarations headaches!
Last month we teamed up with the British Library to deliver a webinar on exporting and importing following Brexit.
We’ve split the two-hour session into specific chunks to help you get to the information you need.
The webinar covered a full range of topics, including:
- What’s changed with Brexit
- What the implications are
- How to address the challenges
- Rules of Origin
- Key issues facing exporters post-Brexit
- How to trade internationally post-Brexit
This final session covers how businesses can expand horizons to trade internationally and create growth in the post-Brexit era, including barriers to trade, exploring new opportunities and taking positive action.
Need more support?
We’ve put together a range of free guides and workbooks to help businesses navigate the choppy Brexit waters.
Last month we teamed up with the British Library to deliver a webinar on exporting and importing following Brexit.
We’ve split the two-hour session into specific chunks to help you get to the information you need.
The webinar covered a full range of topics, including:
- What’s changed with Brexit
- What the implications are
- How to address the challenges
- Rules of Origin
- Key issues facing exporters post-Brexit
- How to trade internationally post-Brexit
This session covers the key issues facing exporters in the wake of Brexit, including customs declarations, issues maintaining seamless deliveries into the EU, Origin and triangulation.
Need more support?
We’ve put together a range of free guides and workbooks to help businesses navigate the choppy Brexit waters.
Last month we teamed up with the British Library to deliver a webinar on exporting and importing following Brexit.
We’ve split the two-hour session into specific chunks to help you get to the information you need.
The webinar covered a full range of topics, including:
- What’s changed with Brexit
- What the implications are
- How to address the challenges
- Rules of Origin
- Key issues facing exporters post-Brexit
- How to trade internationally post-Brexit
This session covers Rules of Origin and the implications of the UK-EU TCA, including what it says, bilateral cumulation, whether or not sufficient transformation has taken place and how to prove origin.
Need more support?
We’ve put together a range of free guides and workbooks to help businesses navigate the choppy Brexit waters.
Last month we teamed up with the British Library to deliver a webinar on exporting and importing following Brexit.
We’ve split the two-hour session into specific chunks to help you get to the information you need.
The webinar covered a full range of topics, including:
- What’s changed with Brexit
- What the implications are
- How to address the challenges
- Rules of Origin
- Key issues facing exporters post-Brexit
- How to trade internationally post-Brexit
This session covers in detail the different Brexit-related challenges that importers and exporters will, and have been, experiencing.
Need more support?
We’ve put together a range of free guides and workbooks to help businesses navigate the choppy Brexit waters.
Last month we teamed up with the British Library to deliver a webinar on exporting and importing following Brexit.
We’ve split the two-hour session into specific chunks to help you get to the information you need.
The webinar covered a full range of topics, including:
- What’s changed with Brexit
- What the implications are
- How to address the challenges
- Rules of Origin
- Key issues facing exporters post-Brexit
- How to trade internationally post-Brexit
This session covers the technical implications of Brexit, covering everything from the HS code and EORI numbers to customs declarations, Rules of Origin, VAT changes and Incoterms.
Need more support?
We’ve put together a range of free guides and workbooks to help businesses navigate the choppy Brexit waters.
Last month we teamed up with the British Library to deliver a webinar on exporting and importing following Brexit.
We’ve split the two-hour session into specific chunks to help you get to the information you need.
The webinar covered a full range of topics, including:
- What’s changed with Brexit
- What the implications are
- How to address the challenges
- Rules of Origin
- Key issues facing exporters post-Brexit
- How to trade internationally post-Brexit
This session covers introductions and what’s changed since Brexit, including the big differences, what is the WTO, the anatomy of a modern free trade agreement, and details of The UK-EU Trade & Cooperation Agreement.
Need more support?
We’ve put together a range of free guides and workbooks to help businesses navigate the choppy Brexit waters.
The UK Government has announced plans to launch a new subsidy control system following Brexit, built upon ‘UK-wide principles’.
The new system, brought about by The Subsidy Control Bill, will allow public authorities to deliver grants, loans and guarantees without existing bureaucracy and red tape.
Pre-Brexit, the UK followed the EU’s state aid rules meaning almost all subsidies had to be approved by the European Commission. However, with its’ new independent trading national status, the UK is looking to realise a Brexit ambition of being able to determine its own state aid and subsidy rules.
UK business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, said that: “Today we’re seizing the opportunities of being an independent trading nation to back new and emerging British industries, create more jobs and make the UK the best possible place to start and grow a business.
“We want to use our newfound freedoms as an independent, sovereign country to empower public authorities across the UK to deliver financial support – without facing burdensome red tape.
“While the UK’s new system will be more agile and flexible, I have been clear that we will not return to the failed 1970s approach of the government trying to run the economy, picking winners or bailing out unsustainable companies. Every subsidy must deliver strong benefits for local communities and ensure good value for money for the British taxpayer.”
Read more: Brexit tariff scheme to help make domestic manufacturing firms more competitive
He concluded that: “Today’s bill marks a clear departure from the EU State aid regime and will ensure our new subsidy system will maintain the UK’s competitive, free-market economy that has been central to our economic success and national prosperity for decades.”
Food and drink exports from the UK to the EU have fallen by almost half in Q1 2021 compared to the same period last year.
Trade groups have said the figure shows the impact of post-Brexit trade barriers, with the value of exported produce dropping 46.6% to £1.7bn according to data from the Food and Drink Federation.
Head of international trade at the FDF, Dominic Goudie, said of the latest data that: “The loss of £2bn of exports to the EU is a disaster for our industry, and is a very clear indication of the scale of losses that UK manufacturers face in the longer term due to new trade barriers with the EU.”
The main reasons given for the drop in trade are struggles with costs, paperwork and post-Brexit shipping checks.
And global trade has struggled to offset the early year losses with exports to non-EU countries rising by just 0.3%, albeit they now exceed EU exports.
Dairy products, including milk and cream, were most affected, whilst whisky, chocolate, lamb, cereals and sauces also saw significant falls.
A government spokesperson said that: “The impact of the Covid pandemic across Europe has affected trade and depressed demand and it is too early to draw any firm conclusions on the long-term impacts of our new trading relationship with the EU.
“We continue to help businesses get the support they need to trade effectively with Europe and to seize new opportunities as we strike trade deals with the world’s fastest-growing markets.”
Adapting to the new trading environment
If your business has been negatively affected by Brexit, including seeing an increase in shipping costs to issues surround paperwork and customs checks, we can help.
Learn more about our post-Brexit consultancy services here.
