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Brexit round-up – 12/03/21

Welcome to this, our latest Brexit round-up. Each week we provide a succinct round-up of the latest news surrounding the Brexit process, so you can keep abreast of the issues which are likely to affect your organisation.

Government relaxes EU plant health rules

Following the UK’s departure from the EU, Northern Ireland has remained a part of the EU’s single market for goods and must continue to follow the EU’s plant health rules whilst Great Britain does not. As a result, soil from other parts of the UK cannot legally enter Northern Ireland under the EU’s plant health rules which has caused disruption. The government has now relaxed those rules to allow bulbs or vegetables that have been grown in soil to be sent from Great Britain to Northern Ireland with soil attached, plants grown in soil can now also be moved provided they are from an authorised business meeting Great Britain’s plant pass porting requirements for soil and agricultural machinery can be sent without the need for a plant health certificate, providing they have been washed to remove excessive soil and plant debris. The government, who have relaxed the rules without the agreement of the EU said “These temporary, practical arrangements recognise the need to ensure biosecurity on the island of Ireland is not compromised whilst addressing barriers which stop goods moving into Northern Ireland.”

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UK signs Economic Partnership Agreement with Cameroon

The UK has signed a trade agreement with Cameroon in order to ensure they can continue to trade as freely as they do now without any additional barriers or tariffs following the UK’s departure from the EU. The agreement was signed by International Trade Minister Ranil Jayawardena and High Commissioner of Cameroon to the UK, H.E. Albert Fotabong Njoteh in London earlier this week. Minister for Africa James Duddridge said “This agreement will make sure around £200m of trade between the UK and Cameroon can continue, supporting Cameroonian businesses to increase operations, enabling UK exporters to sell more goods and boosting prosperity for both countries as we together recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. This provides the continuity businesses in both the UK and Cameroon need to ensure trade between our countries continues to flourish and grow.”

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UK responds to legal action threats from EU

Following the UK government’s decision to extend grace periods on Brexit checks with Northern Ireland from the end of March until October without the agreement of the EU, the EU has threatened the UK with legal action as it was in breach of the Northern Ireland Protocol. The UK’s Brexit Minister, Lord Frost, said London will defend “vigorously” any legal action brought by Brussels. He further denied that the government had acted without first informing the EU and said that the measures taken were “operational, technical and temporary” and confirmed the government had informed the EU commission before extending the grace period. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said “My view is having spoken to businesses, if we hadn’t have taken the action that we took last week, we would have had empty shelves in supermarkets in Northern Ireland imminently now. I think that would have raised tensions further and it may well have undermined the protocol fatally in a way that is not actually in the best interests of either the EU, the UK or the people of Northern Ireland.”

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If you have any questions about any of the issues which are raised, or would like to discuss your own organisation’s options during the Brexit process, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.

This page may contain links that direct you to third party websites. We have no control over and are not responsible for the content, use by you or availability of those third party websites, for any products or services you buy through those sites or for the treatment of any personal information you provide to the third party.

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