Getting back to the subject of Brexit which has recently been out of the spotlight. The UK Global Tariff or UKGT will apply from the 1^st January 2021 on all imported goods replacing the current EU Common External Tariff. This tariff will apply to all good imported in to the UK unless an exception applies such as: a relief or tariff suspension, the goods come from countries that are part of the Generalised scheme of preferences (GSP) where trade preferences reduce or remove rates of duty or tariffs from developing countries.

Based upon what has been published by HMRC the tariffs actually look favourable and not detrimental to product categories. In fact there is simplification, and reductions rather than the increases that were creating a significant amount of concern. If we take a couple of examples, Strawberries, the current CET (Common External Tariff) Duty Rate is 11.20% on imports from 1^st Jan – 31^st April and 1^st Aug – 31^st Dec , 12.8%, minimum €2.4 / 100kg/ net from 1^st May – 31^st July this is moving to a straight 10% on the new UKGT, so has been simplified. Also Motor vehicles for the transport of goods (commodity code 8704 21 31 less than 5 tonnes with a cylinder capacity of greater than 2.500 cm3) has moved from a 22% duty rate to 10% duty rate. This will be welcome news to the hospitality sectors wholesalers as they look to upgrade their fleet in the future.

Early indications suggest a simplicity and potential advantages to the new tariff. We shall continue to monitor and update our members as news is released.