Soft Brexit ?
A soft Brexit? Nothing could be less certain.
Yes, signing an agreement meant avoiding the chaos of an unstructured transition from a single market to a simple relationship between two third countries, such as between the European Union and Russia or the European Union and South Africa.
Notwithstanding, the new contract is just a free-trade agreement which, in reality, includes several major changes.
- Border controls with all the applicable regulations for merchandise have been reinstated; so it’s advisable to have a good forwarding agent or importer to handle them.
- Customs duties are restored for all merchandise not in conformance with preferential origin guidelines: for example, clothing manufactured outside the European Union or in the European Union with non-European fabrics.
- Intra-community legislation on VAT no longer applies: there are new formalities to complete in France and in Great Britain.
- There are new intellectual property laws, as Great Britain no longer implements EU rules concerning brands.
Specific rules also pertain to e-commerce.
For a detailed analysis, click here
The webinar with customs representatives we organised in November gave you an overview of the degree of complexity of these changes.
The British market remains an extremely important one; it’s our fourth biggest client for apparel with over €750 million in French exports. This is why, despite the cancellation of trade shows in the first quarter 2020, it’s important to maintain our presence in this market. In June we’ll bring you French Fashion Corner UK, a digital project run by Business France to put you in contact with British buyers. As a follow up (if everything goes well), in the second quarter we’re planning a meet-up event with support from DEFI. This Paris meeting, which will bring together UK Buyers and French brands, is part of a format we regularly host focusing on different countries. Numerous other activities are also on the calendar!
We stay in close contact with the Movement des Entreprises de France (MEDEF) as well as Ministries and the Customs Administration. Please don’t hesitate to tell us about any difficulties you encounter.
François-Marie Grau, Executive Officer of Fédération Française du Prêt à Porter Féminin