Colin Foote, director at Sullivans Law in Belfast, writes on the impact of Brexit on UK companies trading in the EU.

Many of the UK’s laws relating to trade come from directly effective legislation created by the EU. This includes laws relating to: health and safety; the quality of products; consumer rights and commercial practices when buying or selling home or abroad. What happens with these laws in relation to Brexit will depend on how the UK ultimately leaves the EU and, more specifically, how it seeks to readdress the laws previously put in place as a result of the UK’s EU membership.

There are many standalone pieces of legislation which the UK has enacted as a result of the EU, such as the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which will remain unabated following Brexit. This Act governs contracts for goods, services and digital content all of which will be unaffected by the vote to leave.

The UK, however, has many other trading laws which are incorporated through secondary legislation under the European Communities Act 1972. If, as one might expect, the 1972 Act is repealed in its entirety following Brexit, all of the secondary legislation passed under it will fall away, unless the Government takes active steps to save it. This includes: the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (governing unfair commercial practices; the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (governing product safety standards) and the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 (governing the distance selling of goods and services).

At this early stage, it is impossible to predict which of these laws will remain, which will be repealed or which will be amended. What is clear, however, is that this will not be a quick or a straightforward process. Indeed, with one eye on the markets, it is expected little at all may happen due to the uncertainty and disruption any significant changes may cause.

Whether or not these changes do happen, it will remain the case that exporters to the EU will still need to produce products which are compliant with EU standards. As a result, little at all may change in terms of the amount of red tape which companies will need to deal with in order to continue selling to the larger international market.