The textile trade between the EU and UK witnessed dramatic drop as seen in official data from January to September ’21.
According to EURATEX, compared to the same period in 2020, the EU recorded a fall in imports by 44 per cent to almost € 2 billion, while the decline noted in exports was 22 per cent to € 1.6 billion.
All the sectors have been already suffering a significant loss in the past year and textile has been no exception. The data further shows that the most impacted EU countries on the export side are Italy, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, while on the import side the most impacted countries are Germany, Ireland and France.
Amongst the textile and clothing sectors, as per EURATEX, clothing articles are facing the most severe drop in both imports and exports, corresponding to a total trade loss of more than € 3.40 billion over the 9-month period in 2021.
“This is significant loss for companies on both sides. The situation is likely to get worse, as the full customs regime between UK and EU entered into force on 1 January 2022,” mentioned EURATEX, while calling on the European Union and the United Kingdom to effectively cooperate to remove the issues in the EU-UK Trade agreement that prevent smooth trade flows.
Since 1 January, full customs controls are being implemented between regions, which means that export and import rules have become stricter – products should already have a valid declaration in place and have received customs clearance. Export from Britain to the EU must now have supplier declarations and the commodities codes changed.
