Introduction: From Paper Borders to Intelligent, Trust-Based Gateways Customs modernisation has moved from a worthy aspiration to an urgent operational necessity. Trade volumes continue to climb on the back of e-commerce and near-shoring, while geopolitical shocks, sanctions regimes, and stricter product standards multiply the data points a single shipment must carry. The twentieth-century border—paper forms, [...]
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Introduction Medical devices remain one of the United Kingdom’s most knowledge-intensive exports, ranging from Class I surgical dressings to Class III implantable cardioverter defibrillators. Since the country’s departure from the European Union, exporters must navigate a dual landscape: a domestic regulatory regime overseen by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and an autonomous [...]
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Introduction Tractors, combine harvesters, seed drills, and precision-spraying robots routinely cross the United Kingdom’s borders to meet the modernisation goals of British farms. Yet these high-value assets clear the frontier only when importers satisfy two parallel regimes: the UK customs framework—including an accurate customs declaration—and a demanding body of product-safety, environmental, and plant-health rules. This [...]
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Introduction Offshore-wind nacelles from Newcastle, photovoltaic (PV) inverters from Cambridge, and hydrogen-electrolyser stacks manufactured in Sheffield are moving from British quaysides to power plants on every continent. International demand for renewable-energy infrastructure is expanding by double digits as governments race to achieve net-zero targets and diversify energy security. Yet the act of shipping a container [...]
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Northern Ireland’s unique post-Brexit trading position is about to experience its most significant technical change since the introduction of the Trader Support Service. On 28 June 2025 HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will switch from the long-serving Automatic Licence Verification System (ALVS) to the European Union’s Certificates Exchange System (CERTEX) for verifying import and export [...]
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