Businesses have 'insufficient information' on Brexit changes, BCC finds

08 Dec 2020

An analysis carried out by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has suggested that businesses lack detailed official information on the rules that are set to take effect once the Brexit transitional period ends on 31 December.

The BCC found that businesses have insufficient information in regard to 24 critical areas. This is 'undermining their ability to prepare for change' on 1 January, the business group stated.

According to the BCC, firms still do not know what rules of origin will apply at the end of the transition period, preventing them and their customers from planning and potentially creating unprecedented new administration and costs. Additionally, only limited guidance is available on the procedures for the movement of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, and there is no information on how UK tariff rate quotas will be administered or how businesses can access them beyond the transition period.

Commenting on the issue, Adam Marshall, Director General of the BCC, said: 'With just weeks to go, businesses need answers, and they need them now. Posters and television adverts are no substitute for the clear, detailed and actionable information businesses require to prepare for the end of transition.

'None of the issues businesses are grappling with are new. They have all been raised repeatedly over the past four years, from tariff codes and rules of origin through to the movement of goods from GB to NI.'