The United Kingdoms withdrawal from the European Union (BREXIT) is in its final transition period, which will conclude on December 31, 2020. BREXIT is affecting many areas of commerce for clients who do business in the United Kingdom and Europe and clients need to be prepared for the conclusion of the transition period later this year. Clients should pay particular attention to how BREXIT will affect intellectual property assets, such as European trademark registrations. This podcast will provide clients with advice on how to Seemore+

The United Kingdoms withdrawal from the European Union (BREXIT) is in its final transition period, which will conclude on December 31, 2020. BREXIT is affecting many areas of commerce for clients who do business in the United Kingdom and Europe and clients need to be prepared for the conclusion of the transition period later this year. Clients should pay particular attention to how BREXIT will affect intellectual property assets, such as European trademark registrations. This podcast will provide clients with advice on how to manage, protect, and expand international trademark portfolios in the wake of BREXIT. Seeless-

Go here to see the original:

PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Trending Now: An IP Podcast - BREXIT: Its Effect on European Union Trademark Portfolios and What You Need to Know in the...

Ed Davey, the new Lib Dem leader, has warned his party that it was diverted and distracted by Brexit and must now refocus on voters more urgent concerns, as he faces mounting internal demands to formally back rejoining the European Union.

Davey said that three poor election results in the last five years demonstrated the party needed to listen to voters again, warning that the Lib Dems had forgotten that we serve the community, we serve the people.

In an interview with the Observer during the Lib Dem virtual conference, he said the debate around EU membership was over for the next few years, adding that it was not the issue being raised by voters he had met during a listening tour he began after winning the leadership.

Davey lamented the course of the party since its huge loss of support in the wake of joining the coalition government with the Conservatives from 2010-15. He called for a return of the kind of party led by Paddy Ashdown or Charles Kennedy, which would listen to voters concerns and then give a liberal response.

I think somehow, whether it was the coalition years or recovering from the coalition or because we got not sidetracked but we got distracted by the Brexit battle, weve forgotten that we serve the community, we serve people. And we have to start with them and their problems, and not start with our particular interests.

We fought the good fight. I was marching on the streets. I was there in the lobbies. I gave it everything. But its tragic, we lost that fight.

Asked what he would tell ardently pro-EU members concerned about Brexit, he said: Id say that Im a pro-European. And Id say that were a pro-European party. That isnt changing. And by the way, the other thing we cant change is parliamentary arithmetic.

And so what is the challenge now? The challenge is to show that the progressives in British politics are on peoples side.

We are in a bit of a bind. Weve had three very poor election results, very disappointing, in five years. Ive got to rebuild the Liberal Democrats. And Im not going to be diverted and distracted like we were on Brexit. Im going to focus on rebuilding the Liberal Democrats.

However, his stance is already being challenged by members. About 700 are said to have signed up to a conference motion to back rejoining the EU preferably within 10 years. A similar motion calling on the party to back EU membership in principle will be voted on at the virtual gathering.

Davey, who has set out to make the Lib Dems the voice of Britains carers, accused the government of damaging the rights of disabled people with its coronavirus laws. He revealed his MPs would vote against the renewal of the coronavirus legislation this week unless the rights of the disabled were protected. The Coronavirus Act relieves councils of some of their legal obligations to provide care should they feel the need to do so in order to cope with the pandemic.

Theres some evidence showing that the pandemic has been hitting disabled people disproportionately, said Davey, who has a disabled son and cared for his mother as a teenager.

This is a time when they need more care, not less. I cant stand by, the Liberal Democrats will not stand by, to see disabled people lose their rights, lose the care they need, when they need it the most.

Asked how he now wanted voters to regard the Lib Dems, Davey repeated his leadership election priorities of a greener economy and a fairer society in a more caring country. However, the party had to take some time in trying to work out what voters are saying. Weve got to be humble enough to realise that we werent getting our message over.

Davey said the departure of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader would help the Lib Dem revival in seats where it was competing against the Tories. He said the fear of a Corbyn government had hindered the party at the last election. Corbyn was not helpful to us in our key marginals with the Tories. And the only way were going to get Johnson out of No 10 is if Liberal Democrats win more Tory seats, and Im determined we win many more seats off the Tories.

See the original post:

We lost the Brexit fight now we must listen to voters, Ed Davey urges Lib Dems - The Guardian

PRESSURE on the Conservative Government to sort out its sorry Brexit shambles looked to be high indeed as the UK entered this crunch week in its hugely protracted negotiations with the European Union on a future trade deal.

Many arch-Brexiters are unlikely to feel much pressure. Wealthy Tories who have been pushing the European separatist drive would be relatively unaffected by the further major hit to UK gross domestic product from failing to secure a trade deal, and some might even benefit from the dislocation. For many others not in such a privileged and elite position, the ideology of Brexit they have been fed might satisfy them for now with some delighted to feel more British for some unfathomable reason (given UK sovereignty was never in doubt before this fiasco got under way).

Nonetheless, there is plenty of pressure on Boris Johnson and his Brexit-minded Cabinet to sort out their mess.

Among the public, there are already worries about a return to empty supermarket shelves, with the possibility that a no-deal Brexit at the year-end will add to major difficulties from a resurgence of the Covid-19 coronavirus.

READ MORE:Opinion: Ian McConnell: Pandoras box of Brexit woe as Biden and Pelosi intervene

Then there is peoples obvious desire to avoid further grim damage to an economy and living standards already hammered by the coronavirus pandemic, with much worse to come as unemployment surges and with Chancellor Rishi Sunaks job support scheme announced last week looking woefully inadequate.

Mr Johnson declared earlier this month that leaving the European single market with no deal when the transition period ends on December 31, if the trade talks with the EU were to collapse, would still be a good outcome for the UK.

The Confederation of British Industry, and UK businesses, seem to disagree.

Around 77 per cent of UK businesses want a deal to be agreed, a survey published over the weekend by the CBI shows. Only 4% say they prefer a no-deal scenario. This survey also reveals that the effect of the pandemic has lessened businesses ability to prepare for Brexit. Around 47% said the impact of dealing with Covid-19 had affected their preparations negatively.

CBI director-general Dame Carolyn Fairbairn talked about how the Brexit discussions were entering the eleventh hour this week. She said: A deal can and must be made.

Dame Carolyn warned that businesses face a hat-trick of unprecedented challenges: rebuilding from the first wave of Covid-19, dealing with the resurgence of the virus and preparing for significant changes to the UKs trading relationship with the EU.

She added: More than three-quarters of businesses want to see a deal that will support peoples jobs and livelihoods. This matters for firms and communities across Europe. For the whole continent, the pandemic has diminished firms ability to prepare for an abrupt interruption of restrictions on trade and movement between the UK and the EU.

Dame Carolyn talked about how a good deal would keep UK firms competitive by minimising red tape and extra costs, freeing much-needed time and resource to overcome the difficult times ahead.

And this brings us back to the big truth of Brexit. At this point, the UK is fighting to win the consolation prize of a comprehensive free trade deal with the EU. Such a deal is the Conservative Governments stated ambition in these talks, even if Brexit-minded ministers have at times signalled an alarming indifference toward whether or not there is an agreement. Such indifference has appeared alarmingly genuine, seemingly going way beyond mere negotiating bravado.

READ MORE:Opinion: Ian McConnell: If this is not time-wasting, just what is the Tory Brexit game?

The fact of the matter is that, even if a major free trade deal can be done, a huge amount of the economic damage for the UK is already set in stone with the Tory Brexiters determination to leave the European single market no matter what.

If Leavers do not believe this, they should look at the forecasts of the effects of Brexit under various scenarios drawn up by the Theresa May government. Some may feel a reminder of these forecasts is tiresome but the projections do point to the reality of the situation, which contrasts dramatically with Brexiters bluster.

Losing free movement of people between the UK and EU, with all the economic as well as societal benefits that brings, and the end of truly frictionless trade with the biggest free trade bloc in the world clearly constitute a very big deal indeed. And the May government forecasts show that.

The greatest damage obviously arises from a no-deal outcome. However, the impact is huge under any circumstances.

The May government forecasts, published in November 2018, show, even if there is no change to migration arrangements, UK GDP in 15 years time under a no-deal Brexit scenario would be 7.7% lower than if we had stayed in the EU.

The Tories, of course, plan to clamp down on immigration dramatically, and have legislated to that effect. On the basis there is zero net inflow of workers to the UK from European Economic Area countries, the forecasts from the May government have it that GDP in 15 years time would in a no-deal exit be around 9.3% lower than in a scenario in which the UK had remained in the EU.

READ MORE:Opinion: Ian McConnell: Moderate Tory voices absent as UK Brexit crusade at full tilt

If the UK were to conclude an average free trade agreement with the EU, the hit to GDP would be 6.7% on the scenario of zero net inflow of EEA workers, according to the forecasts. And even with no change to migration arrangements, which is now clearly an over-optimistic scenario, the hit to UK GDP even with the securing of an average free trade agreement is 4.9%.

These are all huge numbers. They show that, even if the UK Government does at this late stage mitigate the damage by securing a free trade deal, the hit to the economy will still be very large.

To put these numbers in perspective, the Conservative Government notes in its own paper on its sought-after trade deal with the US that such an agreement could, in the longer term, boost UK GDP by around 0.07% or 0.16% under two different scenarios.

There seems to remain a huge problem of perception among Tory Brexiters, and other Leavers, in the form of a remarkable over-estimation of the UKs clout on the international stage. Of course, the UK remains a large economy and influential in world affairs, but the days of Empire have long gone and the country is not the power it once was.

In this regard, a poll conducted by Ipsos MORI and published on Monday made very interesting reading. The poll, conducted for the EU-UK Forum, found 49% of Britons believe the country is a force for good in the world, down 10 points since April last year.

It showed around 41% of Britons believe the country should punch above its weight in world affairs, which is little changed from last year, although the proportion disagreeing with this assertion has risen from 18% to 24%.

Meanwhile, 38% believe that Britain should stop pretending it is an important power in the world, up five points from a year ago, with the proportion disagreeing having fallen from 35% to 28%. Even though four in five think maintaining a close relationship with the EU is important in spite of Brexit, only 39% of people now think that is likely, down 13 points since April 2019. That is a gloomy, but perhaps realistic, finding. After all, even if a free trade agreement is concluded, the UK has surely tested the patience of the EU with its bizarre Brexit crusade.

And that is before we even get to the Conservative Governments decision to bring forward legislation which could override key elements of the withdrawal agreement signed with the EU, crucially the Northern Ireland protocol. This protocol was formulated painstakingly to avoid the re-emergence of a hard border on the island, and creates a customs and regulatory border in the Irish Sea. Northern Ireland, to avoid checks and controls on the island, will be required to apply EU customs rules and align with a list of single-market regulations.

The UK has, following its technical Brexit on January 31, been protected from the actual effects by the transition agreement which has kept the country part of the European single market.

At this crunch point on the future relationship with the EU, the UK Government has much that it should be reflecting on.

The Conservative Government should look back at the May government forecasts, in terms of the economic reality of the situation. It should weigh whether it might just be a good idea to mitigate the economic damage from Brexit as much as possible given what has already happened, and what is to come, from the coronavirus pandemics impact on output and living standards. And, as it does so, it should reflect on its own perceptions of the UKs place in the world, and whether these might be out of date.

And it should do all of these things rather quickly. The clock is ticking. Ominously.

Originally posted here:

Opinion: Ian McConnell: Pressure mounts on Brexit brigade to sort out their bizarre and sorry mess - HeraldScotland

Although trade negotiations with the EU are still underway, it is evident that the UKs fresh produce sector is going to be significantly affected by the UKs departure from the bloc. As stated in the governments Border with the European Union published in July, from 1 January 2021 the UK will operate a full, external border as a sovereign nation with controls placed on the movement of goods between Great Britain (GB) and the EU; these controls will be implemented in three stages up until 1 July 2021. This followed Theresa Mays announcement of the UKs Global Tariff setting import duty rates.

New research

Against this background, Dr Stavros Karamperidis, lecturer in maritime economics at the University of Plymouth, and Andrew Morgan, director of Global 78 both members of the Ports, Maritime and Waterways forum committee of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (UK) are now undertaking independent supply chain research concerning UK fresh produce imports. This is scheduled to start in September, with a final paper to be published in early 2022.

The research will assess the economic impact of Brexit on inbound fresh produce supply chains, especially those that are most time critical. Bearing in mind that the latest complete year of UK overseas trade data sets are those for 2019, and also that Covid-19 has impacted economic activity throughout 2020, the work will investigate matters across three time periods: 1) in 2019 i.e. before Brexit; 2) in the 2020 transition period; and 3) in 2021 after final exit.

Combining rigorous data analysis with investigation of operational realities, the principal objective will be to achieve a fact-based holistic view of inbound fresh produce supply chains. This will require operational and economic evaluation of As-is and What-if scenarios, including break-even analysis. It will recognise too the need for a whole system / system of systems understanding.

Pre-project planning will be followed by three investigative phases, with a fourth phase focused on further analysis, reporting, and drawing conclusions. In the investigative phases, the researchers will seek to engage with a broad spectrum of stakeholders drawn from among the following groups:

Stakeholders will be invited to participate in online structured interviews and periodic surveys. While the final paper will be in the public domain, those stakeholders participating will be able to receive anonymised and aggregated outputs in the interim, namely:

Commentary on provisional findings to date.

A selection of end-to-end process maps.

Benchmark logistics costs and cycle times for representative import routes.

Pre-project observations

As reported in FPJ, the UK retail fresh produce sector has a current value of 11.5bn with consumer demand for year-round availability of the full product range. Defra reports further show a heavy reliance on imports, both from the EU and the Rest of the World (around 38 per cent and 30 per cent respectively of total supply volume in 2019).

Overall, Spain and the Netherlands are the leading EU source markets, the latter also re-exporting imports from other countries. Growing seasons affect availability across domestic, EU and Rest of the World production. For example, citrus production follows the sun with South Africa replacing Spain as the principal supplier during the northern hemisphere summer. By contrast, bananas are harvested in the Caribbean, South America, and West Africa and imported throughout the year.

The sector is necessarily dependent on ports and shipping. Modes of appearance will be temperature-controlled containers (e.g. ISO 40ft) or road trailers (driver-accompanied or unaccompanied). As a broad generalisation, shipping will be deep-sea services from non-EU countries; and short-sea services from the EU these as either roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) ferry services or container feeder services. Airfreight and rail freight services also feature.

The Dover corridor is the major RoRo trade conduit, comprising high-capacity, high-frequency ferry services from Dunkerque or Calais and Channel Tunnel freight shuttle services, to provide up to 50 per cent of the UKs RoRo capacity. In normal times it averages approximately 12,000 freight vehicles inbound/outbound in a 24-hour period with around 13 per cent temperature-controlled. Other UK port and service clusters are Thames, East Coast, Irish Sea, and western Channel, with port terminals then segmented by type and capacity.

Emerging issues

With major impending changes in the EU:UK trading relationship, issues are expected to emerge during the project that will affect its direction. Some of those already identified include:

How import duty rates on fruit and vegetables (between eight per cent and 16 per cent unless a trade deal is struck with the EU) will affect sourcing decisions made by UK importers and the choice between EU or Rest of the World supply. These decisions will in turn impact on the ratio of road trailer to container use and the UK arrival/import routes and services used as a result.

How the existing trade patterns with EU countries could be reshaped. For example, whether Morocco would increase its presence as a supplier of oranges and tomatoes in place of current EU suppliers (such as Spain) because of its Free Trade Agreement with the UK.

The need for UK importers to have appropriate customs arrangements in place by 1 January 2021 including a customs comprehensive guarantee (CCG), a deferment account, and authorisation for customs freight simplified procedures (CFSP) in order to benefit from the three-phase compliance introduction.

Round-trip transport compliance and economics. Inbound traffic is often matched with outbound traffic for maximum vehicle utilisation and overall operating cost control. Round-trip compliance will now involve four customs gateways and possibly increased journey times all affecting whether an operation is still economically viable.

The risk of congestion and its effect on journey times, especially those involving time-critical consignments. Allied to this aspect will be competition for port terminal capacity, and the introduction of the Goods Vehicle Movement Services (GVMS) and pre-lodgement requirements.

Whether and to what extent the Dover Corridor will remain the preferred RoRo trade conduit. The UK government has mooted having new inspection facilities but away from the Port of Dover, encouraging traffic to use East Coast ports, and use of alternative ferry services such as those handling unaccompanied trailers, although there is much uncertainty about the details.

How traffic involving Ireland the Republic of Ireland and/or Northern Ireland including traffic transiting mainland UK will be handled, especially in view of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Next steps

The researchers believe that this will be a significant project in that it will bring together a wide range of stakeholders across a broad spectrum of commercial and regulatory activity. It will maintain an independent view of matters and the provisional results will be made available for research participants in the expectation that quality information will support effective decision making.

Continued here:

Measuring the impact of Brexit - Fruitnet

Sterling has depreciated by around 5% versus the USD in September as the Brexit clock is ticking. Jeremy Stretch from CIBC Capital Markets expects a modest deal to be reached, supporting GBP resilience.

While we still expect a deal even this late, it will likely be far from comprehensive. While the UK has placed a self-imposed October 15th deadline on discussions, in line with the EU leaders summit, we would not be surprised if talks extend at least until the end of October. As the timeline tightens, we expect sterling to continue to be whipsawed by Brexit headlines. We underline that the reaction to a deal or no-deal scenario is likely to be far from symmetrical.

If our base case of a modest trade deal being agreed to is correct, expect modest GBP impetus into year-end, towards the 1.29 mark. Failure to reach a deal could see sterling heading back towards the end of March lows.

Beyond Brexit, the BoEs assumed V shaped recovery looks set to be challenged by tightening lockdown restrictions. Although the UK government remains intent upon avoiding a repeat of the March lockdown, the drag on service sector activity will still weigh on the recovery. While the BoE has acknowledged negative rates as part of its toolbox, they continue to view them as only being used in an emergency setting, namely a no-deal Brexit scenario.

Read the rest here:

GBP/USD to end the year at 1.29 on a modest Brexit deal CIBC - FXStreet

Transition out of furlough scheme to abet market-based adjustment but raise unemployment

Rules that restrict economic activity most critically within the UK services sector and thus adversely impact demand and labour markets are occurring while the UK is phasing out current furlough wage support policies by end-October to be replaced with a six-month Job Support Scheme to subsidise wages for short-time work.

The premise to this change in policies to abet market-based economic adjustment and arrest the sharp increase in public debt is understandable given many of the jobs may not come back and in view of a public debt ratio we see rising past 110% of GDP in 2020, after 85% in 2019, says Shen. However, there will be, in following, a significant increase in unemployment due to this policy transition, with the effects to reverberate across the economy in the fourth quarter and into 2021 as lost subsidised income and resulting curtailed private final demand interact with economic losses from renewed economic and social restriction.

The public health and unemployment crises gather as Brexit negotiations enter a critical three-month stretch, including this weeks nominal final round of formal negotiation, before the transition state ends in December.

We have considered a year-end no-deal Brexit as unlikely, especially amid a global health emergency thats elevated the need for just-in-time supply chains and given political sensitivities of any Brexit disorder around the end-year Christmas period, says Shen. Instead, a last-minute agreement late in the year of some kind that avoids no-deal, announces progress made since March in free trade talks and gives the UK and the EU potentially additional time by extending standstill conditions for most if not all goods trade temporarily into 2021 to allow continued negotiation, give any time needed for Treaty ratification and/or support necessary preparations around customs infrastructure appears more likely.

No-deal remains unlikely from multiple vantage points whether due to the significant economic, financial market, social and political dislocations thatd ensue including probable loss of life amid the pandemic, the succour no-deal could give nationalists in Scotland surrounding independence, the frictions to trade no-deal facilitates within the UK itself between Great Britain and Northern Ireland or between the county of Kent and the rest of England in travel to Dover, the fact the UK is unprepared currently to replace arrangements with many global trading partners it benefits from preferential trade within the EU customs union, or the damage a no-deal scenario could deal to EU-UK relations longer term for both counterparties in key strategic areas.

The Internal Market Bill detailed earlier this month was likely designed to add pressure in trade negotiations similar to the tactical use of parliamentary prorogation in 2019 with the intention that such pressure could force the EU to back down on some negotiation red lines, adds Shen.

As such, things on Brexit could easily still get worse before they get better with uncertainty looming around how much progress will have been made before a self-imposed 15-16 October European Council deadline. However, we maintain the view that even were the UK to agree on terms with the EU ultimately, theres an ongoing cost of Brexit uncertainties as future relationship negotiations drag on into 2021. Entering 2020, we estimated this Brexit cumulative cost in lost output had already totalled to over 1.5% of UK GDP.

With protests against coronavirus restriction, higher short-run unemployment and banks relocating operations to Europe, economic output is foreseen contracting in the fourth quarter and the robust recovery foreseen in 2021 will take some hit, says Shen. This holds important credit implications for the United Kingdoms AA/Negative ratings were economic uncertainty and rising public debt to not be firmly addressed.

For a look at all of todays economic events, check out our economic calendar.

Dennis Shen is a Director in Sovereign and Public Sector ratings at Scope Ratings GmbH.

Original post:

Coronavirus, Job Market and Brexit Stresses Darken the Outlook for the British Economic Recovery - FX Empire

Covid-19 may have put Brexit strategy on the backburner, but has the existential threat posed by the pandemic recalibrated how brands view Britains exit from the EU?

With attention diverted by the all-encompassing trauma that is Covid-19 it has been easy to forget that, prior to the spring of 2020, Brexit was the biggest challenge facing most UK companies.

Now, just months before the transition period of the UKs departure from the EU ends on 31 December, businesses still dont know what shape Britain's future relationship with its nearest neighbours will take.

Have they been able to make any preparations for Brexit, or has dealing with the pandemic taken all their time and energy?

Shoe brand Joseph Cheaney imports nearly all its raw materials, particularly leather, from the EU. The tanneries are based in France, Italy, Germany. They make the best calf leather in the world and thats where we buy it from, explains joint managing director William Church.

He is hoping that tariff-free imports of these materials will still be possible next year and that any delays from customs checks will be minimal. Stockpiling large quantities of materials in case of supply issues isnt practical and the company wont be repeating the efforts it made on previous occasions when a cliff-edge Brexit looked likely.

Read the rest here:

Is Covid-19 giving brands a new perspective on Brexit? - Marketing Week

For the Kiwi Dollar

Building consents and business confidence figures were in focus.

In August, building consents rose by 0.3%, partially reversing a 4.6% slide from July.

The Kiwi Dollar moved from $0.65820 to $0.65853 upon release of the figures that preceded business confidence figures.

Of greater significance, however, was business confidence in September.

The ANZ Business Confidence Index rose from -41.8 to -28.5, which was down from a prelim -26.0. In August, the index had stood at -31.8.

According to the latest ANZ Report,

The Kiwi Dollar moved from $0.66010 to $0.66056 upon release of the figures. At the time of writing, the Kiwi Dollar was up by 0.27% to $0.6606.

Industrial production and retail sales figures were in focus.

In August, industrial production rose by 1.7%, following an 8.7% jump in July. Economists had forecast a 1.5% rise.

According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry,

Industries that mainly contributed to the increase were:

Industries that mainly contributed to the decrease were:

Forecasts for September were revised upwards from a 1.9% increase in production to a 5.7% increase. Industrial production is projected to rise by 2.9% in October.

According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, retail sales fell by 1.9%, following a 2.9% decline in July. Economists had forecast a 3.5% decline.

The Japanese Yen moved from 105.672 to 105.693 upon release of the figures. At the time of writing, the Japanese Yen was down by 0.03% 105.69 against the U.S Dollar.

It was a particularly busy morning. Key stats included Septembers NBS private sector PMIs and the markets favored Caixin Manufacturing PMI.

In September, the NBS Manufacturing PMI rose from 51.0 to 51.5. Economists had forecast a rise to 51.2. The NBS non-manufacturing PMI increased from 55.2 to 55.9, leading to a rise in the composite from 54.5 to 55.1.

The Aussie Dollar moved from $0.71341 to $0.71334 upon release of the NBS figures that preceded the Caixin number.

In September, the Caixin Manufacturing PMI slipped from 53.1 to 53.0. Economists had forecast a PMI of 53.1.

According to the September survey,

The Aussie Dollar moved from $0.71369 to $0.71381 upon release of the PMI.

Building approvals and private sector credit figures were in focus.

With geopolitics and private sector PMI numbers out of China, however, the stats had a muted impact on the Aussie Dollar.

Building approvals fell by 1.6%, while private sector credit stalled in August.

The Aussie Dollar moved from $0.71449 to $0.71369 upon release of the figures that preceded Chinas Caixin survey numbers. At the time of writing, the Aussie Dollar was up by 0.08% to $0.7136.

Go here to see the original:

Economic Data, Brexit, and the US Presidential Debate to Keep the Markets Busy - FX Empire

Former Brexit Party MEP Ben Habib argued the UK cannot compromise on its red lines in the trade talks with the EU. While speaking with Belinda de Lucy from Brexit Unlocked, he urged Boris Johnson to stand firm in talks. Ms de Lucy said: "So I've noticed a few tweets from some very strong Brexiteers recently saying, 'Well, is it all that bad if we compromise a little bit on state aid?'

"To me, it's a way the EU can keep its tentacles around our economy.

"This is because I don't think they'll use it in good faith.

"How can you explain how these compromises will be bad for the UK, in the long term, if Boris does buckle on state aid?"

Mr Habib insisted the UK should remain strong and focus on its goal of being completely separate from the EU.

DON'T MISS:Italy fury sparks fears COVID-19 recovery fund will lead to Italexit

He said: "When people talk about making a compromise in a deal, that's around the edges of the grey areas of the deal.

"But actually, the key issue here, what we're fighting for here is our sovereignty.

"We're not fighting for an extra bit of tariff, perhaps or, you know, greater access to their fishing.

"We're fighting, actually, for our sovereignty, and there can be no compromise on taking back control.

"Boris promised he would take back control on all of our laws, our borders, our cash and our fishing."

Despite previously praising Lord David Frost, Mr Habib warned about a statement made by the negotiator.

Mr Habib said: "That is, and you cannot compromise on that.

"I heard David Frost a couple of months ago saying, well, we might have to compromise on 40 percent of our red lines.

READ MORE:

Brexit row: Switzerland threatened to 'work with UK' over 'weak EU'[Latest]Brexit backers to be appointed to top jobs at BBC and Ofcom[Update]Brexit trade talks thrown into chaos after EU misunderstands Boris[Insight]

"Well, which bit of sovereignty do you want to give away? Which part of the United Kingdom do you want to hand over to the European Union?"

It comes as Brexit talks enter the ninth stage of negotiations this week between the UK and EU.

Ahead of talks Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman said in London that Britain's focus was on progress in trade talks.

"Although the last two weeks of informal talks have been relatively positive there remains much to be done," he said.

"We simply want the standard free trade agreement ... we continue to be asked to accept provisions that do not reflect the reality of our status as an independent country."

See more here:

'NO compromise!' Boris ordered to stand firm as Brexit Britain 'fighting for sovereignty' - Daily Express

In February, I lost my passport in the stupidest way yet. I was not mugged, pickpocketed or burgled (passports one to three), I did not drop it in a pond (passport four), or lose it in a house move (passport five), I just walked through a station in a bit of a daze, and by the time I got to my platform, it was gone. I tried to self-soothe with the fact that, at least I now had time to renew before the blue ones came in, but that plan did not square with the global pandemic, and the document arrived today, as blue as midnight and also as dark.

Some observations: we definitely are not in the EU any more. There are no stars, just a lion, a unicorn and a peculiar and bereft illustration of the UK, with Northern Ireland a floating blob, the rest of the landmass etched out like Trotskys face. I dont know why I should find this so disappointing. Obviously on some subconscious level, I thought it was all a dream, or a joke.

The colour, meanwhile, is not the nostalgia kick you might have hoped for, if that was your thing, since it genuinely is blue, while the pre-EU ones looked more like black. This somehow says it all about the Brexit project, that it would fight to the death over a principle that was trivial and wrong. Three flowers and a shamrock are embossed on the back, for poetry I suppose, except the daffodil could be any flower, and the overall effect is of someone finding free graphics on the internet for a superbly boring PowerPoint presentation.

Yet by far the worst thing about it was my own photo, as ever, contriving to look meaner and more like Myra Hindley than the last, which was itself the worst picture I had ever taken. Remarkably, and powerfully, this lifted my spirits. Some things never change. Every passport has a worse photo than the last even, mysteriously, one you lost after only six months. But everything else can change, and who knows, by 2030, the blue years could be over.

Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist

View original post here:

My blue passport has arrived and with it a crushing new sense of our Brexit nightmare - The Guardian

During Channel 5's Jeremy Vine programme, Ms Sarkar and Mr Parry clashed regarding the Government's negotiation strategy with the European Union. Ms Sarkar stated that Boris Johnson's Government needs to face serious questions regarding its competency on Brexit while Mr Parry argued the Government have prepared for a no deal scenario.

Ms Sarkar said: "Boris Johnson won an election promising to get Brexit done and saying that his deal was oven ready.

"That is a promise that he made to the electorate, it was a core part of his mandate.

"When his Government failed to deliver on that for whatever reason I think that there are some serious questions that we need to ask of their competence.

"When it comes to if these trade deals with the US and Japan will be enough to compensate for the lack of a trade deal with the EU, I am not as convinced as you."

READ MORE:EU warning: European fishing to be 'devastated' if UK chooses no deal

Mr Parry replied: "I agree but the point is how long do we go on with Mr Barnier and the Europeans just trying to pretend that Brexit hasnt happened?"

Mr Vine asked: "Isnt it the case we didnt foresee how important the fishing rights were going to be?"

Ms Sarkar responded: "I think there was a sense that it was going to become a real sticking point.

"It was one of the things that drove people to vote Leave in the first place, so I dont buy this argument that the Government did not see it coming."

Mr Parry said: "They did and they have made preparations for it.

"Michael Gove is going around telling people we are not worried, he has not got a care in the world about a no deal Brexit because they always thought it might come to that."

Earlier this month British fisherman Paul Lines told Express.co.uk that the UK faces a tough "balancing act" in trade negotiations with the European Union regarding UK fisheries following the completion of the post-Brexit transition period.

Mr Lines stated annual talks between the UK and the EU may need to be held to establish and develop the terms and conditions of fishing in Britain's waters following Brexit.

DON'T MISSSturgeon forced to accept EUs terms and common fisheries policy[INSIGHT]UK needs to push EU for same fishing deal already given to Norway[VIDEO]Underestimating the importance of fishing 'devastated' UK towns[ANALYSIS]

He said: "They shouldnt walk away, what they should do is add a deal that gives us back sovereignty of our waters and gives us back our resources.

"Then we can do some sort of access arrangement for foreign vessels to fish in our waters and pro-rota for our to fish in theirs because making a line down the sea on the second of January is not going to work.

"You are going to have to have annual talks on what the terms and conditions are going to be.

"That is a very fine balancing act, but it must not be decided by demands from Dutch and French fishermen who want to carry on as they are.

"Things have got to change, and we have got to rebuild an industry that is sustainable."

See the original post:

Remainer Ash Sarkar told Brexiteers 'don't have care in world' about no deal in fiery row - Express

Paul Lines told Express.co.uk that the UK's fishing industry has the potential to grow from around 0.5 percent of Britain's GDP to 3.5 if zonal attachment is reintroduced after the post-Brexit transition period. Mr Lines added that Britain's coastal communities will thrive off having a fishery and it may result in thousands of jobs created within the fishing sector.

Mr Lines said: "I dont think GDP has any bearing on anything because if you put zonal attachment back and we get the fish back that we should have in our water, GDP will rise to about 3.5 percent.

"3.5 percent is not to be scoffed at and also it is meaningless when you talk about GDP in terms of jobs.

"Coastal communities thrive off having a fishery, there would be thousands of jobs developed directly involved in fishing.

"The nations GDP should not deny communities thousands of jobs.

READ MORE:EU warning: European fishing to be 'devastated' if UK chooses no deal

"You cant judge anything on GDP because it has to rise and get bigger.

"Any jobs that come from Brexit are good jobs so I dont think that should have any bearing on it whatsoever."

The British fisherman also stated during his 45 years as a fisherman he has only seen the demise of the British sector.

However, he insisted followingBrexit, the UK can return to its former glory and replace their European competition as the dominant force in the industry.

Mr Lines said: "Britain stands to regain some of its former greatness.

"I have been in fishing for 45 years and all I have ever seen is the demise of fishing, I have seen half of our fleet cut up.

"I have seen days where the sea comes in and restricts what you do.

"I have seen quotas fall to the point where we have got one vessel left.

DON'T MISSSturgeon forced to accept EUs terms and common fisheries policy[INSIGHT]UK needs to push EU for same fishing deal already given to Norway[VIDEO]Underestimating the importance of fishing 'devastated' UK towns[ANALYSIS]

"What we have got left we struggle to get a living from."

He added: "We gave it all away to be part of Europe, now we want it back.

"We want to see their boats cut up, we want to see their new modern fleet gone because we want that.

"As a country we have got to have that, if we are going to survive on our own, we have got to have everything that we can bring to play to make money."

Excerpt from:

Brexit fishing victory: UK sector to explode after leaving EU as thousands of jobs created - Express

John Balls, chairman of North Devon Fishermen's Association, said the French will not take a compromise lying down and predicted widespread disruption to the movement of goods and people on both sides of the Channel. On Friday the seventh round of post-Brexit trade talks in Brussels wrapped up, with the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier saying he was "disappointed" with the lack of progress.

Mr Barnier claimed the UK had shown "no willingness" to compromise on key issues while the UK's negotiator David Frost admitted the talks had resulted in "little progress".

With no deal in sight four months before the Brexit transition period is due to end on December 31, Mr Balls said Britons should be prepared for a blockade of French ports, including Calais.

He said if a deal is struck it would inevitably mean a massive setback for French fishermen, who hold 84 percent of quota for cod in the Channel while the UK holds just nine percent.

But if the UK and the EU fail to find common ground and divert to World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, fishermen across the waters would be equally annoyed by the prospect of having their access taken away, he said.

Mr Balls toldExpress.co.uk: "We've seen it before with the French, they will blockade the ports and they will hold up lorries on the UK side.

"The M20 on the approach to Dover will end up as a car park.

"It's always the French who blockade the ports.

"That will happen. That is something that the French are very good at.

READ MORE:Huge number of French admit Brexit Britain made the correct choice

"They'll blockade not just the shellfish or finfish being moved around, they will blockade and that will stop everything being moved from flowers to meat to vegetables. All perishable goods plus people as well."

He said it would not advise Britons to plan a trip via Dover or Calais in the first weeks of 2021 due to the "mad marauding fishermen" who will be keen to send a strong message of protest to the UK.

He continued: "They know they're not going to get what they want.

"If there was a compromise it still wouldn't be good enough for them.

DON'T MISSBarnier blows top at Brexit stalemate - Frost stands firm on fishing [INSIGHT]'Future of UK hangs in balance - THIS is what Boris must do' [COMMENT]Brexit LIVE: Frost leads 50 Brexiteers into fishing showdown [BLOG]

"They want to have their cake and eat it.

"They know that they hold the volume of quota for the Channel fish and they are not going to want to reduce that 84 percent which they hold.

"There will be an upset. The French fishermen always have their little day in court."

Mr Balls has held weekly meetings with officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to discuss the concerns of fishermen in north Devon.

He said shellfish suppliers in the region would continue to see a high demand for their product in the European market in the years to come.

He warned of the devastating consequences for the UK fishing industry if their live and perishable goods are kept sitting in lorries at ports due to action by the French.

Mr Balls said it was the responsibility of the UK and French governments to make sure any disruption is minimal.

He added: "We've got to have that access into Europe and also Europe has to have access to us.

"We can't go down the road of having a tit-for-tat and having stupid volumes of levies put on the movement of a product. It's not going to do anyone any good.

"We know the French, Spanish and Portuguese customers want the product which they have been used to for the last 20-30 years.

"So there's a lot of support for the UK product and what the French fishermen are concerned with is basically is being pushed out of the waters where they've been fishing."

View original post here:

Mad marauding French fishermen WILL blockade portswhether Brexit deal reached or not - Daily Express

COVID-19 might have been challenging for populist governments, but that hasnt stopped populist strains emerging in the run-up to New Zealands general election in October.

Populism, as commonly defined, embraces an ideology that divides society between the pure people and the corrupt elite. It contends the will of the people requires leadership promoting mono-culturalism, traditionalism and opposition to globalist plans within the deep state.

We have already seen some of these themes playing out in the current contest to govern New Zealand.

Having hired prominent Leave.EU campaigners Arron Banks and Andy Wigmore (the self-styled bad boys of Brexit), New Zealand Firsts social media strategy has begun to reflect their brash strategic advice.

Party leader and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has claimed New Zealand Firsts common sense is a safeguard against the woke pixie dust of the Labour and Green parties. He has cast himself as the the defender of socially conservative values like the right to believe in God.

Meanwhile, the National Party appeared to adopt a more partisan strategy after the renewed outbreak of COVID-19 in Auckland.

Leader Judith Collins said the return of the virus would come as a shock to all New Zealanders who believed what we had been told. She complained Health Minister Chris Hipkins had been reluctant to brief her own health spokesperson, Shane Reti.

Read more: When great powers fail, New Zealand and other small states must organise to protect their interests

Her deputy, Gerry Brownlee, took it further, implying Jacinda Arderns government had known more about the resurgence of the virus than it was publicly acknowledging. He said New Zealanders had been left in a position of wondering what do the health authorities know that they are not fully explaining.

Where National was taking advice is unclear, but it has in the past had direct and indirect links with conservative research and polling organisation Crosby Textor and Topham Guerin, the social media agency that helped Boris Johnson win the 2019 UK election.

To be fair to Peters, he joined other political leaders in criticising Nationals position as undermining democracy.

However, he also joined Nationals questioning of his own coalition governments decision to grant refugee status to Kurdish-Iranian journalist Behrouz Boochani, asking why he had jumped the queue. Peters was accused of race-baiting in return.

Populist lines of attack may be born out of electoral weakness and political expediency, but they are risky at a time when Arderns handling of the worst global pandemic since 1918 has boosted her national and international standing.

Moreover, the performance of populist governments in dealing with COVID-19 has been woeful, which hardly boosts the credibility of populist posturing over the pandemic in New Zealand.

Take Boris Johnsons original argument in favour of a herd immunity strategy to avoid disrupting the economy: You could take it on the chin [] and allow the disease, as it were, to move through the population.

By mid-March the World Health Organisation (WHO) was publicly questioning the absence of any clinical evidence to support this response, and the Johnson government was ordering a strict national lockdown to suppress the virus.

Read more: Pandemic letter from America: how the US handling of COVID-19 provides the starkest warning for us all

Now, senior cabinet ministers, including the prime minister, are facing possible prosecution for alleged misconduct in public office, which some say has led to over 60,000 avoidable deaths.

In the US, President Donald Trump responded to warnings about a potential pandemic from the WHO, intelligence agencies and senior officials between late 2019 and March 2020 by reassuring Americans they had nothing to worry about.

Only on March 17 did Trump publicly concede there was a highly contagious invisible enemy. But by prioritising the opening of Americas businesses and schools over a lockdown strategy, Trump undermined efforts to overcome dire shortages of PPE and ventilators in a pandemic that has now taken more than 170,000 American lives.

The inability of the Johnson and Trump governments to deal effectively with a real-world problem like COVID-19 is no coincidence.

Both seemed indifferent to WHO warnings on January 30 that the coronavirus was a public health emergency of international concern. They appeared impervious to the concerns of many health-care experts, emphasised a sense of national exceptionalism, and were painfully slow to react as the threat grew.

In contrast, the response by Arderns government placed New Zealand in the company of states like South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Germany and Vietnam that have managed to keep virus-related deaths to relatively low levels.

Read more: After Trump and Brexit: The coming of the progressive wave

What they have in common is a willingness to heed WHO advice, consult with scientific and health experts, and learn from each other.

To be sure, the Ardern government must be held accountable for its handling of the pandemic. But opposition for oppositions sake is not the answer in a major health crisis.

Politicians taking advice from those peddling misinformation and populist conspiracy theories run the risk of undermining public health messages and weakening the capacity of the country to suppress a deadly threat.

Furthermore, such tactics have already proved useless against a virus that plays only by the rules of science and objective reality.

To date, there are few signs that many New Zealand voters will be tempted by a politics-first, science-second approach during the COVID-19 crisis. Politicians who take this approach run the risk of a backlash.

Read more:

Populism from the Brexit and Trump playbooks enters the New Zealand election campaign but it's a risky strategy - The Conversation AU

This article was originally published here

Soc Sci Med. 2020 Aug 12;264:113276. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113276. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Liew et al. (2020) recently published a paper in this journal that analyzed antidepressant prescription trends in the context of the 2016 Brexit referendum and the sociopolitical discord that followed. They present a novel finding that Leave-majority constituencies in England seemed more adversely affected by that discord than Remain-majority constituencies. I offer criticism of their findings and methodology. Using the complete set of available NHS prescription data shows that the trend the authors detect dates from at least mid-2010 and is not associated with the referendum. In terms of methodology, I critique the potential ecological fallacy and issues of false equivalence in their study design. The former stems from the inability to adequately control for demographic heterogeneity within constituencies, and the latter stems from the fact that the populations from which they draw their data are not equivalent in potentially important ways. Finally, I conclude that the key trend the authors detect seems to merely be a geographic artifact. The set of Remain-majority constituencies unintentionally oversamples the areas of England with the lowest rates of antidepressant prevalence, Greater London and the Southeast. Remain-majority constituencies outside of those two regions have roughly the same antidepressant prescription levels as Leave-majority constituencies in all of England. In itself, that is a troubling fact of social epidemiology, but Brexit is associated with it neither spatially nor temporally.

PMID:32829213 | DOI:10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113276

View original post here:

Brexit and the geography of depression: A reply to Liew et al. (2020) - DocWire News

UK and European negotiators are meeting later today for yet another round of Brexit trade talks.

The two sides have to reach a deal by October 31 for it to be ratified by the end of the year, when Britain's withdrawal from the European single market comes into effect. For companies that do cross-Channel business, the looming deadline and current lack of clarity is leaving them in the dark.

The Brexit transition ends in just a few months. For importers and exporters in the European Union and the UK, the outbreak of COVID-19 has derailed negotiations and thrown a spanner in the works.

Natalie Chapman of Logistics UK says customs checks and systems will be some of the major hurdles ahead:

"Its going to be a huge challenge in order to fully leave the EU at the end of the year. Theres an awful lot of detail that still needs to be resolved."

Dan Van Der Knaap of Dutch Quality Flowers travels from the Netherlands to Britain every day to deliver flowers - a perishable product that relies on swift travel.

I do worry because I dont know whats coming," he told Euronews. "Theres nothing sure, theres nothing 100 per cent which makes me worried as well because no one knows what is coming.

The big picture is that for many logistics companies those responsible for organising the movement of large quantities of goods - the desire is to see an extension to the transition period.

For four years, UK freight and logistics companies have been concerned about Brexit. Coronavirus has now added an extra layer of concern for the companies that rely on there being the smooth movement of goods between europe and the UK.

One company in Felixstowe, England, says European hauliers are reticent to commit to contracts beyond the end of this year.

My biggest fear now," says Jon Sparrow from Jordan Freight Logistics, "is that the system will collapse at the end of the year. Nothing is ready the IT systems arent ready, customs arent ready due to COVID. My fear is hauliers, if they dont want to come here, weve got a serious problem.

The question remains whether the UK and Europe will be ready for Brexit by the end of the year.

To watch Luke Hanrahan's report, click on the media player above.

Read the original here:

Brexit trade: uncertainty looms over importers and exporters - Euronews

The UK government has denied reports that it is to drop a recently introduced levy on global technology companies such as Facebook, Google and Amazon due to fears the so-called Facebook tax could jeopardise a post-Brexit trade deal.

The Treasury said on Sunday it would drop the digital services tax when there was a global agreement on how to tax big multinational tech firms, which pay very little tax in the UK and other countries where they operate.

The government poured cold water on a report in the Mail on Sunday that Rishi Sunak was preparing to ditch the tax following pressure from US companies and politicians in order to win a favourable trade deal.

A Treasury spokesperson said: Weve been clear its a temporary tax that will be removed once an appropriate global solution is in place and we continue to work with our international partners to reach that goal.

Recently Sunak wrote to the US Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, to demand that big tech firms pay more tax to help fund the recovery from the coronavirus crisis.

In a joint letter with the finance ministers of France, Italy and Spain, Sunak said the likes of Google, Amazon and Facebook had benefited from the pandemic and had become more powerful and more profitable and needed to to pay their fair share of tax.

The current Covid-19 crisis has confirmed the need to deliver a fair and consistent allocation of profit made by multinationals operating without or with little physical taxable presence, the letter, obtained by the BBC, said.

The US trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, told Congress the US had abandoned efforts to find a multilateral solution to taxing tech firms in talks overseen by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Lighthizer said other nations had ganged up to screw America.

The 2% levy on the British revenues of search engines, social media services and online marketplaces, first announced in the 2018 budget, was an attempt to keep some of the economic value created by technology companies in the country.

Some of the worlds biggest companies pay relatively little UK tax, because the digital services they offer, such as advertising and fees for connecting buyers to sellers, technically take place offshore. That allows them to keep their tax burden low in major economies, and book the majority of their revenues in low-tax environments such as Ireland and Luxembourg.

Read the original:

Treasury denies it plans to drop 'Facebook tax' in favour of trade deal - The Guardian

Exporters are turning their attention to the next looming challenge: the possibility of the United Kingdom leaving the European Unions single market and customs union on January 1st without a trade deal.

And while Covid-19 continues to dominate the news and adversely affect business, some companies are optimistic that they are prepared as best they can be for the consequences of a hard Brexit.

Silverhill Foods of Emyvale in Co Monaghan has an annual turnover of more than 30 million with 70 per cent of the companys weekly output of 80,000 ducks exported to 27 countries 40 per cent of them to Chinese restaurants in the UK. The initial impact of Brexit was two price hikes of 10 per cent each, both caused by a fall in the sterling to euro exchange rate.

But the impact on sales was virtually zero and a World Trade Organisation tariff of 7 per cent, which will apply to Silverhill goods entering the UK without a UK/EU trade deal, doesnt faze the companys head of sales, Barry Cullen.

Its not a major price difference, he says. We are a premium product. We are about twice as expensive as our competitors, so were not price sensitive.

Two years ago when the implications of Brexit were sinking in, the company leased temporary warehouse space near Manchester where 100 pallets, each holding 420 frozen ducks, could be stored, thus ensuring UK customers would continue to be supplied if ports became jammed. The warehouse option can be revived after January, if needs be.

The Silverhill breed, which is half Aylesbury, half Peking, is popular in France, Germany, Scandinavia and the Far East so as regards exporting to the rest of the world, the company long ago abandoned the UK land bridge and exports now, via Dublin Port, to Cherbourg and Rotterdam.

Silverhill duck has become a far-travelled delicacy. In Singapore, what is marketed as London Fat Duck began life as an egg in Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone. It was hatched in Slieve Bragan, Co Monaghan and reared for 42 days on farms in Monaghan and Tyrone before being processed in Emyvale all by a workforce of about 250.

Cullen believes their UK customers, who are overwhelmingly ethnic Chinese enterprises, are well used to importing from outside the EU and the prospect of WTO tariffs and regulations doesnt worry them. Theyre all fine about it, he says.

Longer term, Cullen sees Irish-based businesses turning away from the UK.

We dont want to be reliant on the UK, he says. I think it will still be our largest [single] customer after this but I think the reliance on it by Irish companies, I think theyve realised we cannot be beholden to these guys. . . Dont waste a good crisis we know this is coming so go out and find new markets.

Then theres the prospect of increasing Silverhills burgeoning trade with the Far East.

Indonesia, he says excitedly, the populations 260 million and you think its a poor country but you take the top one per cent. . . you start thinking in terms of selling pallets of duck and end up thinking of container loads.

Like Silverhill, warehousing became a solution for another major exporter, Portwest, the 180 million turnover, outdoor leisure and work clothing company which is based in Westport, Co Mayo and employs 4,500 people worldwide.

Before Brexit we had one main distribution warehouse in the UK, with 250 staff, serving every country in the EU, says Portwest managing director Harry Hughes. After Theresa May announced that the UK were leaving the customs union, we decided to open a second distribution warehouse in Poland and were ready when the first deadline passed.

The Polish warehouse has 150 staff and serves all of Portwests EU customers. The UK warehouse, with 100 fewer staff, serves UK and Portwests non-EU customers Englands loss was Polands gain.

We are now Brexit-proof from issues associated with customs and borders, says Hughes. No company will be exempt from the possible political or commercial fallout.

CombiLift is another Monaghan-based company with a global reach that has also had to react to the potential worst-case scenario in January.

The company, a hugely successful maker of forklift trucks, has grown over 22 years into a 300 million turnover enterprise employing 650 people.

Most of the staff work at an enormous assembly plant that is 11 acres under roof and sits on a 100 acre site at the edge of Monaghan town. Four production lines, now working two at a time in staggered shifts because of Covid-19 distancing restrictions, crank out customised forklifts trucks.

Their multi-directional wheel and steering system gives them extra manoeuvrability, allowing them operate in very confined spaces. This allows CombiLift to market itself as a space saver, selling customers the notion that their existing warehouse has greater capacity, if storage aisles are reconfigured and made narrower, thereby allowing for more shelving.

While the companys two largest markets, accounting for half of output, are the UK and US, it also exports to more than 80 countries throughout Europe and the Americas, as well as to Asia, Africa and Australia.

The companys single most significant response to Brexit was to obtain from Revenue the status of Authorised Economic Operator (AEO), a process that took 10 months and culminated in the issuing of a prized AEO certificate in June 2019.

What the status means in effect is that the CombiLift plant in Monaghan becomes a customs and excise frontline, rather than the frontline being at the port through which exports flow. On a day-to-day basis, this means the plant operates like a bonded warehouse so when finished products or spare parts reach a port, they pass through the green channel, without delay and unchecked.

Clearly, trust is a key ingredient.

Martin McVicar, managing director, and company cofounder with Robert Moffet, explains: We have controls in place. Doors to where spare parts are held are fob activated so only known employees can get in or out. Security procedures, access and control is very much insisted upon [by customs].

You become a trusted partner with Revenue and as long as you do everything properly, there is no reason for them to check what you do.

That said, the plant can be subject to inspection at any time and the perimeter of the site is laser beam protected. CCTV is everywhere.

CombiLift has an articulated truck or container leaving the Monaghan plant every hour of every day. The company also takes in 40 truck-loads of imported parts, the companys manufacturing raw materials.

By having AEO status, were getting our [imported] goods cleared much faster from any market, says McVicar, adding that import processing time at Dublin Port has improved from two to three days to mere hours.

Whatever way Brexit pans out in January, CombiLift will be able to deliver spare parts to UK customers overnight.

So McVicar hasnt given up on the UK.

Whatever happens in Brexit is not going to stop us investing there, for multiple reasons, he says. The UK clients are still going to need forklift trucks to move goods around. In fact, their demand for warehousing space is going to be at a higher premium because the minute a company comes out of that European block, theyll want to want to make sure theyve goods on their island.

UK companies are going to be stocking higher levels of components and food to deal with border scenarios and where our products come into value is, even though we make forklift trucks, we are actually in the business of selling warehouse space. We sell forklift trucks that save warehouse space and as the demand for warehousing increases, theres more demand for our product.

So even post-Brexit, whether theres no deal or there is a deal, were still going to invest in the UK.

More here:

How three Irish exporters are facing the prospect of a hard Brexit - The Irish Times

With only a number of weeks left for a trade deal to be negotiated, Brexit talks have resumed between the UK and EU.

Although Britain left the EU on January 31 of this year, there is a transition period of 11 months. This transition period ends on December 31 and,if a deal has not been secured by then, the UK will have to trade with the EU on the terms of the World Trade Organisation.

As the deadline approaches with the potential impacts on Ireland looming, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has recently published information on exporting to Britain after Brexit.

AgriLandhas broken down the key points of the publication.

Most consignments of animals, animal products and products of non-animal origin from non-EU countries must come through a Border Control Post (BCP), which was previously known as a Border Inspection Post (BIP).

There are three BCPs designated for these categories of animals and goods in Ireland: Dublin Port; Dublin Airport; and Shannon Airport.

BCPs must know about consignments in advance and, if not, there may be an added fee or a delay in the checks. It must also be ensured that the BCP being used is designated to check the shipments commodity.

As an added note, animals and animal products crossing the UK land-bridge will be subject to veterinary controls at the point of re-entry into the EU.

The UK has indicated that it does not intend to impose export certification requirements for animal products for at least the first six months after leaving the EU without a deal.

However, the Department of Agriculture has warned that business operators should be aware that this arrangement could change at any time.

The UK authorities have indicated that they will require pre-notification notice to the Food Standards Agency but, it is not clear as of yet what the pre-notification will involve.

Ahead of the UK officially leaving the EU, registered exporters may apply for phytosanitary certification of consignments of plant and plant produce to the UK.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine requires a minimum of 14 days notice prior to export to enable inspectors to arrange an inspectionand allow for any laboratory testing that may be required to be completed.

RELATED STORIES

View original post here:

Brexit: An overview of exporting to Britain after it leaves the EU - Agriland

Joe Biden is on course to win the race for the White House on November 3, with many leading polls putting the former vice-president ahead of his Republican rival Donald Trump.The current US President had previously flirted with the idea of including the NHS in any free trade deal however, Mr Trump was quickly shut down by the Westminster Government.

According to Inderjeet Parmar, Professor of International Politics at the City University London, Mr Biden would be under greater pressure from left-wing Democrats and pharmaceutical giants to include healthcare in any future agreement.

Professor Parmar suggested Mr Bidens running mate - California Senator Kamala Harris - would bring a renewed focus of health and the environment to Brexit talks

The vice-president nominee had previously backed plans by left-wing Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for state-funded healthcare.

Mr Sanders, who dropped out of the Democratic race in April, has constantly called for a Medicare for All plan to tackle private firms and nationalise the health insurance industry.

Professor Parmar toldExpress.co.uk: Kamala Harris in terms of her politics and approach to her international relations would reinforce tendencies you would find in Biden administration.

She would reinforce the idea that there ought to be respect for environmental, health and safety standards within any agreement, which I think would be a change of emphasis from the current administration."

When asked whether Ms Harris endorsement of public healthcare would have an effect on the NHS, Professor Parmar added: I think it would, because there would be a bit more pressure from the progressive left.

A - for something approaching Medicare for All although that actually is not actually the official policy of either Harris or Biden, but certainly a public option which is a little step towards a public healthcare provision.

I think there will be greater sympathy or empathy for protecting the NHS, but I think at the same time the power of the pharmaceutical companies and the hospitals, I think is still very great, so the lobbying of the Biden Presidency would be very intense as well.

So I think it would be quite a tough position and Britain would have to be ready to stick to its guns on that.

The real possibility of the NHS being on the table in talks was put forward by Mr Trump in June 2019.

READ MORE:Brexit fisheries row as EU increased fish caught in UK waters

The US President said: When you're dealing in trade, everything is on the table."

The Prime Minister has constantly said the NHS would not form any part of negotiations and firmly rejected Mr Trumps stance when questioned in parliament in July last year.

In the Commons, he said: Under no circumstances would we agree to any deal, any free trade deal that put the NHS on the table. It is not for sale.

DON'T MISS

Furious Barnier blames UK for Brexit deadlock[VIDEO]Brexit GAMBLE: Frost stuns EU by putting forward major new plan[INSIGHT]Insider predicts FAILURE of Cummings' Whitehall revolution[ANALYSIS]

Following a continued public backlash, during his last visit to the UK in December 2019 to mark the 70th anniversary of NATO, Mr Trump backtracked on his comments and insisted he would not accept the NHS on silver platter.

Mr Trump said: "I don't even know where that rumour started. We have absolutely nothing to do with it.

If you handed it to us on a silver platter, we want nothing to do with it."

The US election will take place on Tuesday, November 3.

Continue reading here:

Brexit warning: Boris will need to stick to his guns amid intense Joe Biden NHS plot - Daily Express