Bloomberg
The UK set out contingency plans for leaving the EU without a new Brexit deal on customs, as PM Theresa May warned that Britain must prepare for the worst.
A planned Customs Bill will create a new “standalone†customs regime for the UK, and ensure value-added tax and excise laws continue to function if the country crashes out of the bloc in 2019 without an agreement. The proposals come in a new so-called White Paper on customs after Brexit, published alongside a similar document on trade.
May says she wants talks to succeed but “it is also our responsibility as a government to prepare for every eventuality,†May told lawmakers in Parliament on Monday. The white
papers “support that work including setting out steps to minimise disruption for businesses and travellers.â€
Britain and the EU have until March 29, 2019 to negotiate a new deal but talks, resumed in Brussels, have stalled over the question of how much the UK is willing to pay as it leaves.