ACS has called on the Treasury to provide more detail on its plans to ensure that track and trace regulations are not significantly disrupted in the event of a no deal Brexit.
In a meeting of the Joint Alcohol Tobacco Consultative Group this week, HMRC suggested that the track and trace system would need to be ‘suspended’ if the UK left the EU without a deal. HMRC believe that restarting a UK only system with the necessary associated legislation would take between 6-12 months, with current plans referring to the system being restarted in October 2020.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “Retailers have spent a significant amount of time, effort and resource to get the codes they need to be compliant with the track and trace regulations. If a no deal Brexit means that there is delay in the introduction of the regulations, retailers need assurance from HMRC that they will not have to go through the same process all over again.”
The Track and Trace regulations came into force in May of this year, with thousands of retailers already applying for codes.
The regulations require retailers to have an Economic Operator Identifier Code (registered to their business) and a Facility Identifier Code (for each of their stores) in order to purchase compliant cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco products.
Retailers can apply for their Economic Operator Identifier Code here: https://eutpd.uk.delarue.com. The application for EOIC and FIC(s) is a two-step process. First, retailers will need to create an account to apply for their Economic Operator Identifier Code. Once this code has been received by email (which may take up to two working days) retailers can then apply for their Facility Identifier Code(s) by logging into the web portal.
ACS’ guidance on track and trace, which includes information about the application process, is available to download here: http://bit.ly/trackandtraceguide
