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FPEF2 days ago

UK and EU agree draft Brexit deal

Britain and the European Union agreed to new terms for the UK's exit from the bloc on Thursday this week, paving the way for a high-stakes vote in the British Parliament to ratify the agreement. The accord was endorsed by the leaders of the 27 EU countries at a summit in Brussels. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson now faces the formidable challenge of winning backing for the deal from the UK Parliament. In a setback for the deal's prospects, a political party (Democratic Unionist Party) allied to his government has indicated that it wouldn't support the deal. The most important terms deal firstly with the Northern Ireland conundrum. On customs, both sides agreed to a remarkable balancing act: Northern Ireland will officially be part of the UK's customs territory, meaning that it applies UK tariffs and can participate in future British trade deals, but at the same time the EU-UK customs border is placed in the Irish Sea, meaning that de facto Northern Ireland follows the EU's customs rules. The new trading arrangements will take effect immediately after the Brexit transition period ends in December 2020, and without any vote of consent in Northern Ireland. But after four years, Northern Ireland will have a say. Devising a mechanism of democratic consent underpins the deal and has been one of the major sticking points in negotiations. The UK will furthermore pay the EU a divorce settlement of €36,3 billion. Exactly how the proposed deal will impact on South Africa's agricultural exports to the UK still has to be determined, but given the pro-active negotiations between the governments of South Africa and the UK on the Brexit issue, no major fallout is expected at all.

Source: Agbiz

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