The European Plastics Converters (EuPC, Brussels / Belgium; www.plasticsconverters.eu) and the British Plastics Federation (BPF, London / UK; www.bpf.co.uk) have co-drafted a position paper on key post-Brexit issues between the UK and the EU. “In the interest of the European plastics converting industry, we ask the European Commission and the British government to avoid any disturbances of the current trade with plastics and plastic products between the UK and the EU, especially in the second phase of the negotiations on possible sector trade issues,” say EuPC managing director Alexandre Dangis and BPF director-general Philip Law.

The paper notes that the UK is the most important trade partner of the EU-27 countries for manufactured plastic items. In 2016, the EU-27 states exported goods with a trade value of more than EUR 6.6 bn to the UK, and UK exports to the EU-27 amounted to over EUR 4.5 bn – this is 68% of the UK’s total plastic products exports.

Additionally, a considerable number of UK plastics businesses are owned by EU companies, with about 25% of BPF member companies being EU-owned. There is also significant UK-based ownership of plastics companies in other EU countries.

Of the approximately 166,000 employees in the UK plastics industry, about 18,000 workers come from other EU states (see Plasteurope.com of 21.11.2017). Access to skills is an important issue, and EuPC and BPF warn that restrictions to the movement of labour could worsen the existing shortage of personnel in the European plastics converting industry.

It also pointed out that the EU programme to implement a circular economy "can only be addressed in conjunction with the UK as a partner with the EU." Importantly, imposing customs duties and non-tariff barriers, such as custom checks, are major risks of a hard Brexit, and would have negative effects on the plastics converting industry. The paper summarises that a Brexit agreement should include duty-free trade between the EU-27 and the UK, mutual recognition of standards and regulations (especially REACH) as well as customs procedures that are efficient.