Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Draft Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, published in November 2018, what his assessment is of the effect of articles 47-50 of that agreement on UK supply chains.

The Government has agreed in principle the terms of the UK’s smooth and orderly exit from the EU, as set out in the Withdrawal Agreement. It includes a time-limited Implementation Period that provides a bridge to the future relationship, allowing businesses to continue trading as now until the end of 2020.

Articles 47-50 provide an agreed high level text on how goods and customs procedures will be treated during this period. Goods in transit to or from the UK to the EU will retain their Union status and will be subject to existing declaration principles contained in the Union Customs Code (UCC). Additionally, UCC rules will be applied to non-union goods placed in temporary storage or special procedures in the UK and before separation for up to one year after the end of the Implementation Period, allowing trade time to discharge goods to a final customs procedure.

The draft Political Declaration on the future UK-EU relationship sets out a plan for a free trade area for goods, with no tariffs and no quotas, combining deep regulatory and customs cooperation and underpinned by provisions ensuring open and fair competition.