A group of countries including Australia are seeking trade compensation from both the UK and EU due to disruption caused by Brexit.
At a World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting in Geneva, fifteen countries raised concerns over Brexit and how it may damage their economies, including due to the disruption caused by Brexit delays.
Fifteen countries including India, New Zealand, Brazil and the US participated in the meeting to demand compromises from the EU and Britain, over 3 years since the UK voted to leave the European Union. Concerns were raised at the meeting about Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs) that will be in place after Brexit. TRQs are part of a system used by nations under WTO rules in order to set a threshold at which foreign goods can be imported with lower levels of tariff rates.
The nations represented at the meeting expressed concerns that EU quotas may be used up by British imports and that British quotas may be filled up by EU originating imports, potentially leading to non-EU states lose access to British and EU markets.
Compensation was demanded by some states, which may if granted, be given in the form of reduced tariffs on other goods.
Australian authorities also complained that some of their exporters, including meat and sheep exporters, were already suffering due to Brexit, including after stopping some trade ahead of the recent Brexit delay being confirmed due to uncertainty.
Following the UK’s vote to leave the EU in June 2016, Brexit has since been delayed three times. The UK heads to the polls for a general election on 12 December 2019, with the Brexit deadline currently set for 31 January 2020.
Photo: Dover Port | Credit: Alexey Komarov via Flickr under licence (CC BY 2.0)
