Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on UK companies’ ability to prepare international trade paperwork if the UK exits the EU before alternative international trade agreements have been established.

It is in both the UK and EU's interest to see tariff-free trade and for that cross-border trade to be as frictionless as possible. We will seek a new customs agreement with the EU that supports these objectives.

We have said we anticipate a phased process of implementation, in which both Britain and the EU institutions and Member States prepare for the new arrangements that exist between us.