The UK and EU are reported as having struck a preliminary agreement on dividing up World Trade Organisation (WTO) quotas. Should no deal be reached on trading between the EU and the UK, trade is likely to default to operating under WTO trading rules.

Dividing up of quotas of products that are imported into the EU from third countries is a complex process and can cause more headaches than tariffs on imports. It’s expected that the proposed deal will not expand the overall quotas or market access. This is despite calls from countries outside the EU for this to happen in order to increase their market access to EU and UK.