Four more regulations laid as government prepare for ‘no deal’
Our weekly update of developments in Brexit-related secondary legislation. Four more statutory instruments (SIs) have been tabled.
VAT SIs
Another SI has been laid before Parliament under the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018 (TCTA) as part of the government’s efforts to ensure that the UK’s VAT regime operates as required if the UK leaves the EU without a deal in place.
This is the second of two miscellaneous instruments each of which address a number of deficiencies in the UK’s secondary legislation relating to VAT that are a consequence of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU and not covered by other instruments.
Procedure: Made negative. Made 7/3/19; laid 8/3/19. Comes into force on day to be set by HMT by regulation. 12 pages. Explanatory memo can be read here.
The Select Committee on Statutory Instruments (SCSI) has approved the following SI without finding any defects in it: S.I. 2019/175 Value Added Tax (Input Tax) (Specified Supplies) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019
You can view the full set of Brexit-related VAT SIs published so far here.
Customs SIs
In the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal, legislation will be necessary to ensure the UK’s customs regime can be administered by HMRC in a way that enables trade to continue to flow after exit. Two more SIs have been laid before Parliament this week in pursuit of this.
This instrument introduces new arrangements for travellers who bring commercial goods into the UK in accompanied baggage or in small vehicles, it modifies some of the declaration requirements that will be applicable at Roll on Roll off (RoRo) locations and it makes other miscellaneous amendments to existing customs regulations. This instrument also corrects defects in seven existing SIs. Most (maybe even all) of these defects were identified by the Select Committee of Statutory Instruments (see previous editions of this review).
Procedure: Made negative. Made 7/3/19; laid 8/3/19. Comes into force on day to be named by HMT. 24 pages. Explanatory memo can be read here.
SI 2019/487 - The Customs (Managed Transition Procedure) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019
This instrument will give HMRC a temporary power for twelve months to issue a public notice to relax the requirement to make a declaration by a certain time for certain traders importing or exporting certain goods from or to the EU. These are additional temporary changes to support trade immediately, and will not form part of the longer-term customs model. They will only be invoked if the Commissioners for HMRC believe it is necessary to do so in order to maintain the smooth operation of the border.
Procedure: Made negative. Made 6/3/19; laid 7/3/19. Comes into force on day to be named by HMT. 8 pages. Explanatory memo can be read here.
The SCSI has reported another customs SI for defective drafting: The Customs (Export) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. HMRC acknowledges this, agreeing that, in the definition of “release” in regulation 2, “releasing goods from a common export procedure” is intended to mean “releasing goods to a common export procedure”. Although HMRC considers that this intention is clear in the context, the Department intends to amend the provision in due course. The Committee accepts that no difficulty is likely to arise from the error, but hopes that the amendment will be made when the possibility arises.
The SCSI has also considered the following SIs, none of which were found to be defective: S.I. 2019/140 Customs (Consequential Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019; S.I. 2019/148 Customs (Contravention of a Relevant Rule) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019
At its meeting on 5 March 2019 the European Statutory Instruments Committee recommended that the appropriate procedure for the following instruments is to be subject to the negative procedure: The Customs (Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019
You can view the full set of Brexit-related customs SIs published so far here.
Excise SIs
A fourth SI has been laid before Parliament as part of the government’s efforts to ensure that the UK continues to have a fully functioning and legally operable excise regime upon EU exit.
SI 2019/474 - The Excise Duties (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) (No. 3) Regulations 2019
This instrument makes miscellaneous changes to correct EU derived excise legislation and other deficiencies, in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal. The changes include modifications to the excise regime relating to: the Channel Tunnel, the movement of goods in certain customs transit procedures and Roll on Roll off (RoRo) locations.
Procedure: Made negative. Made 6/3/19; laid 7/3/19. Comes into force on such day as the Treasury may by regulations appoint. 12 pages. Explanatory memo can be read here.
You can view the full set of Brexit-related excise SIs published so far here.
By George Crozier, CIOT Head of External Relations.