British associations are calling for talks with the EU

British associations are calling for talks with the EU

Around one and a half weeks after the UK finally left the customs union and the EU's internal market, calls for renegotiations with Brussels on the trade pact are loud. In particular, regulations on customs duties and food safety as well as VAT in cross-border trade cause difficulties. In some cases, companies simply stopped trading between the UK and the EU out of uncertainty about the regulations or because of the additional work involved - including exporters of fish, a parcel service provider and fashion chains. Northern Ireland is particularly hard hit. There were complaints there about empty supermarket shelves. The province is part of the United Kingdom, but according to the exit agreement it is treated according to the rules of the EU customs union and the internal market. This is to prevent a hard border with the EU member Republic of Ireland and a resurgence of the Northern Ireland conflict. British business associations are now hoping for further negotiations between Brussels and London to deal with the difficulties. "Where there are problems, there will have to be further talks," said the head of the British food trade association, the Food and Drink Federation, to the Observer. The executive director of the industry association Make UK told the newspaper that even customs experts with 30 years of experience were "amazed" at what the new regulations meant. In the worst case, he sees negotiations pending for years.