Businesses trading with EU could see restrictions eased next year

Businesses trading with Europe could see restrictions eased next year, the exports minister has said.
The Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) between the UK and the European Union is to be reviewed and Gareth Thomas, minister for services, small businesses and exports, said there is an opportunity to “reset” relations with the EU, with officials already “preparing the way”.
“Genuinely, I do think a reset is possible,” he said. “It will be in Europe’s interest, in Britain’s interest, to look at how together we can bring those barriers down.
“All the indications that we are getting is that there is appetite for a reset with the UK and we want to take advantage of that.”
The government wants to address the frictions to trade created by the terms of Britain’s departure from the EU and thinks it can streamline border checks on plants, food and other perishable products — known as sanitary and phytosanitary checks (SPS) — and achieve more mutual recognition of professional qualifications to support the sale of services in the EU.
“The opportunity of an SPS agreement, of mutual recognition [and the TCA review] … you put the three things together and there is the chance over time to reduce some of the friction at the border and to make it easier for businesses,” Thomas said.
“There is a lot of work being done to try to improve the relationships between Britain and Europe, which were so badly damaged over the last five years.”
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The government has faced a backlash from businesses in the wake of the budget over higher taxes, as well as its plans for significant new employment rights.
Asked if the higher cost of operating in Britain might impede exporters, Thomas said: “I would say it’s an additional reason to look at exporting. Efforts to try and win new exports and draw in income into your business, there is reason to do that in general terms, but now more so than ever.”
Donald Trump, the US president-elect, has said he sees merit in imposing significant tariffs on goods entering the US, but Thomas said any increase in tariffs should not deter UK exporters.
“There are always challenges globally and all the evidence shows that winning exporting contracts helps to strengthen businesses,” he said. “The benefits to exporting are still considerable.”
Around 10 per cent of UK businesses export, with the previous government launching a series of initiatives to try to increase the total. One target was to double the number of small and medium-sized enterprise exporters — those with fewer than 250 staff — from 300,000, while another was to achieve £1 trillion in annual exports by 2030.
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Thomas said the government would set out its own goals in a trade white paper due in the spring. In the meantime, officials have relaunched an export support directory and have led a series of practical seminars and workshops this week across the UK, as part of International Trade Week.
Thomas said he had two key messages to share with businesses. “I have sought to encourage businesses to look again at Europe,” he said, acknowledging that many had been “deterred” from selling there due to rising costs and red tape. “Since Europe is our biggest and nearest overseas market, it feels like a very significant wasted opportunity.”
He is reviewing how the government supports exporters more broadly, including how well Britain’s embassies and consulates engage with companies in overseas markets, which he described as a “mixed picture” at present.
The minister said he was also receptive to the merits of grant support for small exporters to attend trade fairs. “It is one of the issues we are looking at,” he said, although resources at his department are tight. “I have been struck by businesses pointing out [the impactthat] having that support made to get them into [exporting].”
He added: “We have done a lot of work as a government on thinking about how we can drive growth domestically and we are now thinking about what we can do to help businesses seize opportunities and grow through exports.”
This would include new free trade agreements with the Gulf states, India and Switzerland, as well as targeted support to companies for specific priority markets.