Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The Government will automatically enrol companies with customs identification they need to keep trading with the EU should a no-deal Brexit happen.
HMRC will allocate more than 88,000 firms with an Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number in the next fortnight – double the existing number.
These unique identifiers are needed to track companies trading with the EU and collect duties.
Read: EORI number: What it is and hot to get or check one
Letters informing companies of their EORI number will start arriving as early as today.
Non-VAT registered businesses will still have to apply manually.
So far, 72,000 companies have EORI numbers. A total of 245,000 firms would need one an EORI number in the event the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Earlier this month, the Liberal Democrats revealed that only 27pc of businesses which trade solely with other EU member states had obtained an EORI number.
Businesses without an EORI number will be unable to continue to trade with EU member states.
Government sources accused Philip Hammond, the former Chancellor, of blocking the automatic rollout of EORI numbers while he was at the Treasury.
Earlier this month Chancellor Sajid Javid ordered the Treasury to step up preparations