The Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade’s member community engagement kicked up a gear over the past few months, with meetings from Manchester to Bristol, sector discussions in customs and manufacturing, and a roundtable event held at the Bank of England.
We also look ahead to this year’s Empowering Global Trade Conference, which member’s can access at a doubly discounted rate as part of our early-bird offer.
In-person events
In April we headed to Manchester for a discussion on recent regional challenges, held at Crowe UK.
The EU was on the agenda, with members explaining what they would like to see from the EU-UK relationship ‘reset’, as well as how they might prepare.
For the city’s manufacturers the progress of Brussel’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) was also a hot topic.
What member described it as “great to see a focus on the real challenges businesses face in international trade” and appreciated “very timely” customs updates ahead of other key pieces of EU reform like changes to the bloc’s ‘de minimis’ threshold.
We also headed to Bristol earlier this month (16 June), where traders reflected on the government’s trade strategy – a year after its introduction – and whether they were happy with the results yielded so far.
Following the conclusion of the UK’s Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) agreement, members also discussed how they expected the deal to impact their businesses.
It’s not just different parts of the UK that we’ve been visiting this spring, we also led a delegation of members to the Bank of England for a roundtable to discuss the impact of inflation on their business.
The US/Israel-Iran war has placed pressure on energy costs, as well as other key commodities and transport costs. UK experts expect inflation to reach 4% by the year’s end.
In this context, we were pleased to share members’ perspectives with senior officials at one of the country’s foremost financial institutions during our roundtable.
Sector sessions
We’ve continued to address sector-specific challenges via our online Special Interest Groups (SIG). This quarter, we held sessions on manufacturing and customs.
The manufacturing SIG addressed legislation introduced by the UK and the EU on management of packaging and packaging waste, as a number of actors in the supply chain will need to take greater responsibility when affected goods are placed on either market.
The Customs SIG covered changes stemming from the EU’s customs reform package, setting out how it might impact UK traders in the years to come. Key takeaways include data EU businesses may be requesting from UK suppliers and a new tier of Authorised Economic Operator status.
We have sector groups lined up for the rest of summer and autumn, including for customs, manufacturing, food and drink, exports controls, and borders, ports and logistics. You can sign up to any sessions you would like to attend here.
Empowering Global Trade
The Chartered Institute was excited to launch the agenda for our annual Empowering Global Trade Conference.
Panel discussion and breakout sessions will address key themes for navigating trade challenges in 2027, centered on how to “build resilience, navigate uncertainty, secure growth”.
The day will facilitate networking with industry leaders, customs experts and trade policymakers, with insights designed to promote operational excellence among customs professionals, as well as vital strategic insights for business leaders.
Early-bird tickets are now available, with members additionally offered entrance at a lower price than the wider public.
Teams of five or more are also eligible for a 10% discount when tickets are purchased together.
The early-bird offer is available until 18 September or until the first 100 tickets are sold.
We hope you’ll join us on 17 November at London’s QEII Centre.
