No deal: what you need to know...
CREDIT CARDS
Britons visiting the EU and shopping online from companies on the Continent could be slapped with millions of pounds in surprise credit and debit card charges.
in the case of a no-deal Brexit, UK-based payment service providers would lose direct access to the EU’s payment infrastructure.
Customers – including businesses using providers to process payments in euros – could also ‘face increased costs and slower processing times for euro transactions’, the government paper warned. Consumers shopping in the EU or buying online from an EU company with a UK card, could be hit with surprise charges.
STOCKPILING DRUGS
HEaltH secretary Matt Hancock has told drugs firms to ensure they have an additional six-week supply of medicines in case there is no deal.
But hospitals, GPs and community pharmacies in the UK do not need to stockpile additional medicines and doctors should not write longer prescriptions, he said. Patients were also told not to store additional medicines at home.
the no-deal documents also insist there will be no disruption to the supply of blood, organs, tissues and cells. to ensure the supply of medicines, Britain will continue to recognise the testing of medicines carried out in other European countries.
EXPAT PENSIONERS
Britons living on the continent could lose access to their pension income and other financial services.
the no-deal papers show that UK citizens in Europe who still have a bank account in Britain could face restrictions on their ability to borrow money and to access certain insurance.
lending and deposit services, insurance and annuities – which many rely on for a regular pension income – could all be affected. insurers said millions of customers, including pensioners overseas, could be affected.
CUSTOMS CHECKS
FirMs trading with the EU should start planning for new customs checks, and may have to pay for new software.
Businesses were advised to start making preparations for a no-deal Brexit by acquiring logistics software and consulting customs brokers to assist with any new trading regulations.
Firms that export and import from the EU may also have to apply for licences to continue to do so.
in northern ireland businesses that trade over land with the republic were told to contact the irish government about preparations they may need to make.
MEDICINES REGULATION
nEw medicines will need UK approval before they can be made available on the market if an agreement is not reached.
the Medicines and Healthcare products regulatory agency, which regulates drugs in the UK, would take on the functions of the EU in such a scenario.
Products from outside the EU and from Britain would have to undergo national assessment before receiving market authorisation to be sold in the UK and a separate application would also need to be submitted to the EU.
steve Bates, chief executive of the UK Bioindustry association, said the additional regulatory processes would ‘likely mean that nHs patients would get access to new therapies later than other countries in Europe’.
ORGANIC FOOD
FarMErs face a nine-month wait to export organic goods to the EU.
UK firms will only be allowed to do so if they are certified by an organic certification body approved by the European Commission. But they will not be able to apply for recognition until after Brexit – and approval could take up to nine months to secure. separately, the Government moved to reassure landowners they would continue to get farming subsidies, currently controlled by the EU.
EUROPEAN FUNDING
FUndinG for poorer parts of the UK, for scientific research and student exchange will be guaranteed by the treasury even if there is no deal.
a technical paper says the Erasmus scheme for exchange trips and collaboration for 2014-2020 will be unaffected by Brexit.
the same is true of EU structural funding, which goes to poorer parts of the UK such as the north of England and Cornwall. the treasury will guarantee the money.
FERTILITY TREATMENT
tHosE trying to conceive a child could be hit by delays to foreign sperm donations under a no-deal Brexit because of additional red tape, technical papers have revealed. danish semen made up almost half of all non- British male reproductive material imported to the UK in 2017. some 3,000 samples were brought in, alongside a small number from other EU states, plus 4,000 from the Us. it is mainly bought from commercial sperm banks.
But leaving the trade bloc without a deal would see the UK leave the EU organ directives and EU tissues and Cells directives, which cover material from human sperm, eggs and embryos to transplant organs.
CIGARETTE PACKETS
tHE images of lung damage and dead bodies currently featured on cigarette packs as warnings to smokers would have to be replaced under a no-deal Brexit.
Copyright for the current images is owned by the European Commission so the UK could no longer legally use them and new images would need to be created.
the no-deal paper says manufacturers will need to ensure tobacco products which include picture warnings produced from Exit day onwards are labelled with new picture warnings.
NUCLEAR MATERIALS
liCEnCEs may be needed to import nuclear materials from the EU if the UK leaves without a deal.
a paper outlining the impact of a nodeal Brexit on civil nuclear regulation states that an import licence may be required to bring nuclear material, equipment and technology from EU countries to Britain.
licences are not required under current arrangements, but the document warns that after Brexit ‘importers may need to obtain an import licence for imports of relevant nuclear materials from the EU’.