The European Commission has published a notice setting out the consequences of Brexit for UK "economic operators" (manufacturers, importers, distributors and authorised representatives) who place non-food and non-agricultural products on the EU market. Subject to any transitional arrangements, the UK will become a "third country" upon Brexit and will no longer be subject to EU rules. The notice highlights the following consequences which are of particular interest to distrib

In December 2017, the UK government named 260 companies owing a total of £1.7 million to their workers for failure to pay the minimum wage, including retail giants such as Primark and Sports Direct. Whilst most employers may think they are aware of their obligations under the National Minimum Wage regulations, complying is not as simple as setting an hourly rate above the minimum. In the case of Primark for instance, the failure to pay minimum wage resulted from the company d

The government has announced the launch of a register aimed at reducing the opportunities for criminals to use shell companies to buy properties in the UK to launder their illicit proceeds. The overseas beneficial ownership register will be launched by early 2021 and will reveal the owners of overseas companies buying property in the UK. It will be the world's first public register to require overseas companies that own or buy property in the UK to provide details of their ul

The Trade Bill 2017-2019, one of the measures intended to enable the government to make various trade arrangements post-Brexit, received its second reading in the House of Commons on 9 January 2018. One of the main provisions of the Trade Bill is the power for the government to make changes to domestic legislation required for the UK to implement "transitioned" international trade agreements that correspond to the EU's pre-Brexit trade agreements. The UK's domestic legislatio