Chamber News

Qatar Customs Authorities, have issued a new ruling with regard to goods being directly shipped to Qatar from the UK with an EC Certificate of Origin. It is causing some confusion and problems so please be aware of this.

• The Notice states that it is the responsibility of the UK Exporter who is exporting the goods, to raise the relevant EC Certificate of Origin in the UK
• What is actually happening in practice is that the Qatari Customs are refusing to accept EC Certificates of Origin issued in the UK which contain goods of foreign origin. In effect, they are not accepting foreign origin goods from the UK.

Norfolk Chamber has contacted the British Chambers of Commerce for clarification, as we know this will affect many exporters in our region.

They suggest that BEFORE SHIPPING YOUR GOODS, you should raise your EC Certificate of Origin and scan/email to your client and ask them “will this be accepted by your Customs Authority?”

If your client says no, you should then raise an Arab Certificate of Origin but this will cost a lot more to process so please be aware of this. Prices for Arab Certificates can be obtained by calling the International Trade Team on 01603 729712.

For those of you who ship to Qatar by air, please see the Documentation Procedure for Air which outlines everything you need to show on the Invoice and other documents.

As and when we receive any further news on this matter, we will update our website accordingly

The government finally published its response to the Sickness Absence Review last Thursday. The response committed government to introduce an independent health advisory and assessment service that will provide an independent assessment of employees who have; been off work for four weeks; retain tax relief on Employee Assistance Programmes; reduce record requirements for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) and look at removing tax disincentives for employers who want to pay for medical interventions for sick members of staff. The Percentage Threshold Scheme for claiming-back SSP will be scrapped.

On last Monday the Pensions Minister confirmed that the government will introduce a single-tier state pension from April 2017. This will reduce complexity and offer a higher state pension for the self-employed but may reduce the state pension for higher earners; this will also eliminate ‘contracting out’ and associated national insurance rebates. The government will explore the possibility for defined benefit schemes to change scheme rules to compensate for this loss without trustees’ permission.

Last week began with BCC senior policy advisor Mike Spicer giving evidence to the Transport Select Committee on the government’s aviation strategy, with specific focus on aviation capacity in the UK. During the evidence session he highlighted the cost businesses are facing due to ongoing uncertainty over airport expansion. He also spoke about the need for additional runway capacity at Stansted, Heathrow and Gatwick. Representatives from Greater Manchester, Birmingham, Scotland and Liverpool Chambers also gave evidence to the select committee on the day.

The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill entered day seven in committee whilst the Energy Billcontinued through committee stage last week. The BCC supports the thrust of this Bill and is working hard to ensure that business interests remain at the heart of government energy policy. This week the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards will to hold evidence sessions, and the Growth and Infrastructure Bill will continue through the House of Lords committee.

The inflation figures published last Tuesday confirmed that CPI remained unchanged for the third successive month in December at 2.7%. The largest upward pressure came from the price increases in utility bills but this was offset by downward pressure from air fares. Although there is some uncertainty around the near term outlook, our view is that inflation will start to creep up over the next few months before slowing later in the year.

Recentretail sales figures were weaker than predicted. UK sales fell at a seasonally-adjusted 0.1% in December from the month before. Although retail sales were up 0.3% in annual terms, it was slowest annual growth rate for a December since 1998 – with the exception of December 2010. These figures increase the risk that the ONS will announce a small negative figure for the fourth quarter this week.

The rules on food imports from Japan, following the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power station on 11 March 2011, were until recently imposed by Regulation 284/2012. This has now been replaced by Regulation 996/2012 governing imports of Japanese food and animal feed. This Regulation notes that, since 2002, Regulation 178/2002 on the general principles and requirements of EU food law has provided for the possibility of adopting appropriate EU emergency measures for food and feed imported from a third (non EU) country in order to protect public health, animal health or the environment, where the risk cannot be contained satisfactorily by means of measures taken by the Member States individually.

Following the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power station, the European Commission was informed that radionuclide levels in certain food products originating in Japan – such as milk and spinach – exceeded the action levels in food applicable in that country. Such contamination may constitute a threat to public and animal health in the EU and the European Commission (EC) therefore imposed special conditions governing the imports of feed and food originating in or consigned from Japan. Keeping the situation under review, the EC has replaced the relevant regulation on a number of occasions. The most recent version (Regulation 284/2012) applies from its date of entry into force (30 October 2012) until 31 March 2014.

A new framework to enhance the EU’s ability to enforce its rights in the international trading system has been put forward by the European Commission.

Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said that ensuring EU’s partners respect the agreed trade rules is essential to make trade agreements work for the European economy.

Covering the EU’s responses in cases of illegal trade measures in other countries, the proposal aims to provide for effective action to safeguard the interests of EU companies and workers.

A framework will be established to enable the Commission to take executive action when the trade interests of the EU are at stake, rather than, as at present, reacting on a case-by-case basis when EU rights are not respected.

This should allow the EU to implement trade responses in a more streamlined, efficient manner in order to encourage the offending country to remove the illegal measures.

“The EU’s membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and bilateral trade agreements help the EU economy,” Mr De Gucht said. “However, those agreements must be respected for them to deliver results.”

Action under the proposed new regulation could also be taken to compensate for import restrictions imposed on EU products in exceptional situations (so-called safeguard measures), or to react to cases where a WTO member country changes its trade regime in a way that negatively affects EU trade (such as raising its import tariffs) without adequate compensation.

The Council of the European Union has agreed to adopt a new Council Regulation concerning restrictive measures against Iran which amends EU Council Regulation No 267/2012. This new Regulation came into legal force on 22 December 2012 and was published in the Official Journal of the EU.

The Council agreed to keep the prohibition on the purchase, transport or import of gas originating in Iran or exported from Iran (Article 14a) under review, with a view to ensuring its effective implementation. Other key industry sectors impacted by the new regulation are:

• Marine
• Software for certain industrial processes
• Graphite and raw or semi finished metals
• Finance

Following publication in the Official Journal on 22 December, the complete text of the Regulation is available on the EU website.

The Middle East Association, in partnership with the Kurdistan Regional Government, are leading a Multi-Sector Trade Mission to Iraqi Kurdistan from 24th February to 1st March 2013 visiting Erbil & Duhok.

To date, the MEA has organised and led nine very successful delegations to Iraqi Kurdistan and are seen as specialists in this market. The Mission will give delegates the opportunity to meet Iraqi and Kurdish businesspeople, to network and to explore new business opportunities with government officials, investors, traders & distributors.

This Mission will have a particular focus on healthcare, education, infrastructure, hydroelectric power generation, agriculture and water treatment and each of these areas of interest will have a comprehensive sector-specific mission programme organised by the KRG.

The FCO Travel Advice very clearly distinguishes the Kurdistan Region from other parts of Iraq and no travel restrictions are in place. The stable security situation has lent itself to business prosperity. British-Kurdish relations are strong and British business is welcomed and encouraged for the high quality of its skills, expertise and products.

To pre-register your interest and obtain further information as soon as it is available, please click here, complete your details and a full prospectus including costs, itinerary & draft programme will be forward to you by e-mail shortly.

UK products, services and expertise are in demand all around the world and businesses that export grow faster and survive longer than those that solely rely on their domestic market.

London 2012 has seen all the eyes of the world looking our way, providing a perfect platform for UK businesses to showcase themselves and do profitable business in overseas markets.

The Export Insight Series is an unrivalled opportunity to expand your business overseas. It aims to introduce novice and non-export businesses to the principles of international trade so that you can go on to grow internationally. If you haven’t exported before, you will probably have lots of questions and be unsure where to start. UKTI there to help you by providing a low-cost and accessible way to expand your business horizons.

What’s Included? There is a nominal charge of £99 +Vat for each of the Export Insight Visits. UKTI will then organise and pay for group flights, accommodation, in market group transport and activities.

Participants will need to pay for other food and drink, public transport and any personal extra charges incurred.

The remaining visits on the programme cover the following markets:

January 2013 France Italy

February 2013 Belgium Czech Republic Denmark Spain

March 2013 Republic of Ireland Poland Sweden

Please click here to see the brochure which includes details of how to book onto the visits.

The ninth issue of the Export Control Organisation’s Training Bulletin contains full details of courses, seminars and workshops that will increase your understanding of the UK’s strategic export controls.

These events are aimed at exporting and trading individuals or companies of all sizes, as well as government organisations, and cater for a wide range of knowledge levels.

The latest bulletin includes all details, charges and an application form. Download the bulletin here.

For more information on export controls and the work of the ECO generally, call the EOC helpline on 020 7215 4594, or email with your questions: [email protected]

Final negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union and Singapore were completed last month. The agreement will be one of the most comprehensive the EU has ever negotiated and will create new opportunities for companies from Europe and Singapore to do business together. An EU-Singapore FTA will be the EU’s second agreement with a key Asian trading partner, after the EU-Korea FTA, which has been in place since July 2011.