Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Bill 2017-19

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Publication Date 20/11/2017
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This ESO records traces the progress of the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Bill 2017-19 - sometimes referred to as the Customs Bill. The Bill was introduced on the 20 November 2017.

The Bill was one of a series of 'Brexit Bills' intended to adjust UK legislation for Brexit, in addition to the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill. Together with the Trade Bill, this Bill was intended to allow the United Kingdom to continue its existing trade policy as far as possible immediately after Brexit.

The purpose of the Bill was to allow the Government to create a functioning customs, VAT and excise regime for the UK after Brexit. The Bill also contained trade defence measures to protect UK industry from unfair competition from abroad and provisions on trade preferences which allowed imports from developing countries to benefit from reduced customs duties. The Bill followed publication of a Customs White Paper in October 2017 and a Future Partnership Paper on customs in August 2017.

Further information

The United Kingdom published two White Papers on the 9 October 2017, which set out its vision for post EU trade and customs policy once the UK had withdrawn from the European Union.

In Preparing for our future UK trade policy the Department for International Trade established the principles that would guide future UK trade policy as well as laying out the practical steps that would support those aims.

These included:

+ taking steps to enable the UK to maintain the benefits of the World Trade Organisation’s Government Procurement Agreement
+ ensuring the UK could support developing economies by continuing to give them preferential access to UK markets
+ preparing to bring across into UK law existing trade agreements between EU and non-EU countries
+ creating a new, UK trade remedies investigating authority

The UK Government also published on the 9 October 2017 a separate White Paper Customs Bill: Legislating for the UK’s future customs, VAT and excise regimes.

On the 7 November 2017 a Trade Bill entered Parliament to set the groundwork for the UK to become an independent global trading nation.

Key measures in the Trade Bill included provisions for the UK to implement existing EU trade agreements, helping ensure that UK companies could continue to access £1.3 trillion worth of major government contracts in other countries and creating a new trade remedies body to defend UK businesses against injurious trade practices.

Further tax-related elements of the UK’s trade policy were to be legislated in the HM Treasury’s Customs Bill – Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Bill – as part of the creation of a new UK tariff regime. This included the trade remedies and unilateral trade preferences which provide preferential trade access to UK markets for developing countries.

Source Link Link to Main Source https://services.parliament.uk/bills/2017-19/taxationcrossbordertrade.html
Related Links
ESO: In Focus: Brexit - The United Kingdom and the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/brexit-the-united-kingdom-and-the-european-union/
UK: Parliament: House of Commons: Library: Briefing Paper, No.8126 (06.07.18): The Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Bill http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8126/CBP-8126.pdf
UK: Parliament: House of Lords: Library: Briefing Paper, LLN-2018/0089 (31.08.18): Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Bill: Briefing for Lords Stages http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/LLN-2018-0089/LLN-2018-0089.pdf

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