TRADING with the EU following the Brexit vote will be more complicated, a Bradford-based international trade specialist has warned.

Tim Bailey, international trade director at Chamber International, says without access to EU trade agreements UK businesses could become less competitive.

The Brexit vote will also mean Chamber International having to revise and change its own operations.

“The EU plays a significant role in what we do. We issue EU trade documents for exporters, use EU resources to help businesses access new markets, work to EU origin regulations, tariffs and trade agreements.

“I am expecting a barrage of calls from firms worried about future trading arrangements.The vote will not stop us exporting but this has to be a priority area for the Government, they need to establish a negotiating structure that can begin multiple trade negotiations.

“We need to get back to the trading position we are in now as quickly as possible.

“The EU has streamlined the way we do business with Europe and introduced simpler procedures for exporters. Before the single market as many as 100 trade documents could be needed to ship goods from the UK to another EU country.

“The Single Market removed customs controls and the need for any shipping documents. Even the terms ‘import’ and ‘export’ were dropped and replaced with ‘acquisition’ and ‘despatch’. The idea was to make it as easy to deliver goods to Newcastle as it was to Paris, and that became a reality.

“The referendum outcome is going to create some challenges for all of us who work in export.”

Chamber International helps hundreds of companies every day, ranging form start-ups to multi-nationals. Its experts advise companies across the UK with a wide range of issues, including trade procedures, relationship management and dispute resolution. It checks letters of credit worth hundreds of millions of pounds a year.