BCC comments on government position paper on continuity in availability of goods

29th August 2017

Commenting on the position paper for continuity in the availability of goods for the EU and the UK, Adam Marshall, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said: -Businesses here in the UK as well as on the Continent will welcome the British government's desire to maintain maximum continuity in the way goods are traded when the UK withdraws from the EU.

-UK goods will be fully compliant with EU regulations, product standards and safety checks at the time of the UK's exit from the EU, and vice versa. Trading companies should not have to get new product approvals, or be subject to duplicate safety checks, for existing products. Related services should also be able to be sold as well. -As the negotiations continue, both sides should commit to avoid unnecessary compliance checks for businesses, both at the time of the UK's exit from the EU, and in future wherever the UK and the EU agree to maintain close regulatory alignment. A 'no deal' scenario, which would see heaps of extra red tape imposed on goods traders on both sides of the Channel, must be avoided - as it's in no one's interests."