On 21 November, the UK government published the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Bill, the stated aim of which is to “allow the UK to set and collect its own duty on goods coming into the country and will allow the government to implement different outcomes of the EU negotiations, including an implementation period”. The government announcement accompanying the bill explained that the precise nature of the EU-UK future customs relationship will be the subject of negotiations, but the bill will allow the government to charge and vary customs duty on goods, specify which goods are subject to what duty, set preferential or additional duties in certain circumstances and ensure that VAT and excise legislation function effectively upon EU exit.