BCC News: Trade Update

The Trade (Australia and New Zealand) Bill final stages in the House of Lords are due on 14 March. Once it receives Royal Assent the UK- Australia and UK-New Zealand trade agreements will enter into force soon after in the spring. We will have further updates in the coming weeks on the key points for UK businesses from these new agreements and how SMEs can use them.

The UK’s accession negotiations to the 11 nation The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade agreement appear to be in their final phase. We will have updates available on what this agreement means for business once the negotiations conclude.

The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism regulation will be in force by the autumn. From 1 October UK business’ customers in the EU will have reporting obligations in terms of iron, steel, cement, aluminium and selected other materials embedded in goods entering the EU Single Market. We will update members on future compliance steps. The text of the regulation is here.