Given the extremely short time left to the end of the transition period, falling on 31 December 2020, the Agreement applies provisionally from 1 January 2021 until the procedure of ratification is completed in 2021.

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement provides for a series of facilitations and simplifications, including trade based on zero tariffs and zero quotas, which is an unprecedented solution in EU free-trade agreements.

However, due to the UK’s decision to withdraw from the EU Single Market and Customs Union, it would be impossible to maintain the earlier trade rules. Border controls will be restored and customs procedures will need to be followed, as well as the procedures related to authorising trade in EU goods within the UK market.

Border controls (e.g. customs, veterinary, phytosanitary controls) and new requirements related thereto (including documentation) in the trade between the EU and the UK are to be introduced as planned, that is as of 1 January 2021. Guidelines for entrepreneurs on the impact of the end of the transition period, developed by the Ministry, remain valid (https://www.gov.pl/web/rolnictwo/brexit3).

Cooperation in the area of fisheries

Starting from 1 January 2021, the UK and the EU will cooperate under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement in the area of fisheries as well. Under the Agreement, throughout the transition period ending on 30 June 2026, each Party agreed to grant full access to its waters to the vessels of the other Party. Fishing activities of the EU fishing fleet on the waters of the UK will require the granting of authorisations/licenses for EU fishing vessels by the UK for the purpose of fishing activities on its waters. By the time such authorisations are issued by the UK, the EU fleet cannot pursue fishing activities in the waters of the UK. The European Commission is working on making fishing activities available for EU fishing vessels as soon as possible.

It should be noted that new British regulations on resource management in the UK waters will need to be adhered to. Numerous elements of the existing Common Fisheries Policy have been transferred to the new UK legislation, but new rules have been also included, which will be notified to the EU Member States and the EU fishery industry as soon as possible.

Due to hard negotiations over the EU–UK Agreement, the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council, at its meeting in December, issued temporary fishing quotas for jointly managed fish stocks, which shall apply until 31 March 2021. The regulation on fishing opportunities for 2021 applicable to fish stocks shared with the United Kingdom will be the subject of further talks. The signing of the agreement with the United Kingdom will open a path for further important fishery agreements, i.e. with Norway and Faroe Islands.

Additional Information and Contact Details

More information on changes in relations between the EU and the UK after 1 January 2021 may be found below:

• Information on trade in organic products

https://www.gov.pl/web/rolnictwo/informacje-zwiazane-z-brexitem

• Official website of the Government of the Republic of Poland on the negotiations with the United Kingdom: https://www.brexit.gov.pl/
• Website of the European Commission on the negotiations between the EU and the UK: https://ec.europa.eu/info/european-union-and-united-kingdom-forging-new-partnership_en