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“The widening of the UK’s trade deficit in August is disappointing, and signifies a much weaker trading position than the average for the year, with exports falling and imports rising sharply in the month. Taken together with the recent widening of the current account deficit, the figures paint a rather gloomy picture of the UK’s external position.

“The latest trade data is further evidence that the decline in sterling’s value over the past year is doing little to boost the UK’s overall trade position. Businesses continue to report that the post-EU referendum weakness in sterling is hurting as much as its helping, with firms continuing to face higher input costs due to the weakening currency, particularly those locked into global supply chains. For those companies that rely on overseas suppliers for their production equipment, a weak pound also makes investment in growth less viable.

“Businesses want to see comprehensive trade talks begin in the EU negotiations before the end of the year, and need answers to the practical questions about our trading relationship with Europe beyond March 2019. At the same time, it is vital that more is done help firms take advantage of new trading opportunities, including greater practical assistance for exporters and tackling some of the longstanding issues at home including the chronic skill shortages and the cost of doing business in the UK.”

As the Conservative Party Conference continues today (Monday) in Manchester, the British Chambers of Commerce has called on the governing party to demonstrate competence and coherence – not division and disorganisation – in the interests of the UK’s economic well-being.

The leading business organisation – which represents tens of thousands of UK companies employing nearly six million people – has flagged on-going business concerns over the public disagreements within the Cabinet around the Brexit process, as well as an insufficient focus on supporting the domestic economy, as areas for immediate attention.

BCC Director General Adam Marshall has called on the Prime Minister and her party to shore up business confidence by ensuring that Brexit negotiations deliver a comprehensive transition period and pragmatic trade talks by the end of 2017, and by increasing attention to the many domestic issues that hold back business appetite for investment and risk.

Speaking from Manchester, BCC Director General Adam Marshall said:

“Businesspeople across Britain are growing impatient with division and disorganisation at the heart of the party of government, and have made it very clear that they expect competence and coherence from ministers as we move into a critical period for the economy.

“Public disagreements between Cabinet ministers in recent weeks have only served to undermine business confidence, not just on Brexit negotiations, but also on the many issues where firms need to see clear action from government closer to home. Action to cut the up-front cost of doing business, build key infrastructure, help firms plug increasing skills gaps, and to support investment and risk-taking must be front and centre on the government’s agenda.

“On Brexit, businesses are clear that they want a comprehensive transition period, lasting at least three years, and pragmatic discussions on the future trading relationship between the UK and the EU firmed up by the end of 2017. They will judge the government’s progress on Brexit by this yardstick – not by public speeches or pronouncements – and will take investment and hiring decisions accordingly.”

A unique service linking Northern Europe with the east coast of the USA, Central America, the Pacific Islands, Australia and New Zealand is to add DP World London Gateway Port to its rota of calls.

The CMA CGM Group, a world leader in container shipping, and Seatrade Group, specialist in reefer transport, have announced the creation of a new vessel-sharing agreement incorporating the services known by CMA CGM as PAD and by Seatrade as Meridian.

This new service brings together CMA CGM, Seatrade and Marfret and improves their frequency and port coverage, adding Peru and the Caribbean to the above list.

The launch of the service, the only one on the market to offer such coverage on a weekly basis, is scheduled for October 2017, subject to validation by the competent authorities.

It will involve 13 modern geared ships with a nominal capacity between 2200 and 2500 TEUs (20-foot equivalent: the standard measurement of a shipping container). Each vessel will have minimum 600 reefers on board in order to transport refrigerated goods such as fruits or meat.

Among the ports included in the service are Brisbane, Sydney, New York, Rotterdam, Dunkerque, Philadelphia, Napier and Zeebrugge as well as London Gateway which is located 10 miles from the M25 and has a rail terminal providing direct services daily to all of the UK’s major rail freight hubs.

More than 41 million fake and counterfeit products were stopped at EU borders last year.

According to a new report from the European Commission, potentially dangerous products such as medicines, toys and household electrical goods accounted for over a third of all goods intercepted.

Compared to 2015, there was a 2% increase in the number of articles intercepted last year, with the goods seized estimated to have had a total value of some €670 million.

Cigarettes accounted for almost a quarter (24%) of the articles detained by customs authorities. Toys were the second largest group (17%), followed by foodstuffs (13%) and packaging material (12%).

The main source of fake goods was China, which accounted for 80% of those seized.

Vietnam and Pakistan were cited by the Commission as the originating countries for large amounts of cigarettes, with Singapore the main source of counterfeit alcoholic beverages.

Fake clothing accessories tended to originate in Iran, while Hong Kong topped the table for counterfeit mobile phones and most counterfeit medicines came from India.

These fake goods pose a real threat to health and safety of EU consumers and also undermine legal businesses and state revenues, the European Commissioner responsible for Customs and Taxation, Pierre Moscovici, explained.

Co-operation between law enforcement authorities should be strengthened and risk management systems upgraded to protect the EU from goods infringing on intellectual property rights, he added.

The Commission confirmed that, in more than 90% of cases where goods were seized, they were either destroyed or legal proceedings were initiated to determine an infringement of EU law or as part of criminal procedures.

The Report on EU Customs Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights: Results at the EU Border 2016 can be found here.

With over 100 exhibitors and plenty of opportunities to explore across two floors of NCFC, the B2B Exhibition 2017 attracted more visitors than ever before.

Despite a turbulent year, of economic uncertainty there was a positive feeling among exhibitors who were optimistic for the year ahead. The Chamber’s Chief Executive, Chris Sargisson said:

“There is an air of optimism and positivity in Norfolk….We have some exciting businesses forming in Norfolk and we will aim to support them even more in 2018.”

The day kicked off with Managing Director of Norwich City Football Club, Steve Stone welcoming exhibitors to Carrow Road and officially opening the exhibition. Once exhibitors were back on their stands they were visited by Chris and Steve who were tasked with choosing this year’s Best Stand.

Energy consultants, Indigo Swan were crowned this year’s winners for their innovative ‘Human Fruit Machine’ game.

As well as endless networking opportunities, there was a popular programme of 20 minute masterclasses covering core areas of interests to all businesses, including networking marketing, social media and increasing sales.

With a steady flow of visitors throughout the day keen to explore the best of what Norfolk businesses are offering, the regions premier business exhibition proved once again to be an unmissable event in Norfolk’s commercial calendar.

Tag yourself and your colleagues in our event photo album here.

See the video featuring the day’s activity here.

For any businesses looking to exhibit at B2B 2018 contact events@norfolkchamber.co.uk or call 01603 625977.

A few colleagues have asked if EUR1’s can be issued for the new EU Canada trade deal. I have checked with HMRC and they have confirmed that EUR1’s cannot be issued for Canada.

For consignments where the total value exceeds €6,000 exporters will have to be a registered exporter in order to make an origin declaration and you must include your registered exporter number (as the customs authorisation number) in your origin declaration.

HMRC has pre-registering all UK exporters holding a valid Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number who exported goods to Canada during 1 December 2015 to 1 December 2016. New exporters will need to register.

Exporters should check they have been pre-registered by checking the Registered Exporters database (https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/eos/rex_home.jsp?Lang=en)

Exporters code will be formatted ‘GBREX’ followed by your EORI number followed by ‘X’. For example, GBREX123456789000X. If you’ve been registered then, on entering your number, the system will confirm that it’s valid.

Exporters not on the database but hold an approved exporter number you may use that until you’re registered. Please note that approved exporter numbers can’t be used under this agreement after 31 December 2017. If you intend to continue exporting to Canada and want your customer to claim preferential duty, you must ensure you hold a registered exporter number by this date.

A guidance for exporters has been put on the GOV.UK website, which can be found here.

If you would like any more information on exporting to Canada or any other countries, please contact us on 01603 729712 or email export@norfolkchamber.co.uk.