Important information about the UK ETS

We would like to draw your attention to some important points in view of the UK's exit from the EU (Brexit).

Brexit took place on 31st January 2020 and was finalised under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom (UK) on 1st January 2021. Since then, the UK is no longer part of the EU single market and customs union.

The UK's participation in the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is replaced by the new UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS). Unlike the Swiss ETS which is linked to the EU ETS, the UK ETS is currently a standalone scheme. This means that, depending on your individual situation and activities, you may have obligations under the UK ETS, which must be fulfilled directly and exclusively with the UK Environment Agency.

We remind you that there are two conditions for aircraft operators to be subject to the UK ETS:

1. Be subject to EU ETS; and,
2. Operate at least one flight within the UK, or between the UK and any airport located in the European Economic Area (EEA).

We recommend that you check whether you have obligations under the new UK ETS and, if so, take the necessary action within the applicable deadlines to avoid civil penalties.

In particular, operators subject to the UK ETS have 6 weeks from the first applicable flight to apply for a Monitoring Plan (MP) to the UK Environment Agency.

We would also like to draw your attention to the 31^st of March 2021 deadline, for aircraft operators wishing to apply for free allocations in the UK ETS. Any EU ETS free allowances you may have received for the routes described in point (2) above will not be awarded to you in 2021 – you can only receive them in the UK ETS and only if you apply for the free allocation by the 31^st of March 2021 deadline.

> Learn more about the UK ETS
As a UKAS-accredited verifier, VERIFAVIA (UK) LTD will be able to perform verification under the UK ETS while VERIFAVIA SARL, as a COFRAC-accredited verifier, can perform verification under the EU ETS.

You may contact us for any questions about the UK ETS. 

The VERIFAVIA Aviation Team
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