weighted score 2.7 · nine dimensions
Country Risk Profile
United Kingdom
Sourcing risk, regulatory exposure and audit intelligence for UK-origin supply chains.
Forced & child labour
2
Modern Slavery Act 2015 — mandatory transparency reporting. No ILAB listings. Strong enforcement frameworks.
Worker rights & FOA
2
ILO core conventions ratified and enforced. Strong freedom of association. Independent trade unions. High SMETA pass rates.
OHS & audit transparency
2
HSE enforcement robust. High audit transparency. Strong corrective action culture in export supply base.
Food & product safety
2
FSA and FSS competent authorities. Maintained EU-equivalent food safety standards post-Brexit. Low RASFF alert rate.
Environmental & regulatory
2
EUDR low-risk classification (May 2025). No IUU card. Strong environmental enforcement. CITES compliant.
Governance & anti-corruption
3
TI CPI 2024: 71/100. Strong institutions. Minor concerns around lobbying transparency and financial sector oversight.
Tariff & preferential access
7
No EU preferential access post-Brexit. UK-EU TCA applies zero tariffs for goods meeting rules of origin — but origin rules are strict and compliance requires documentation.
Non-tariff barriers
2
No enhanced controls. No sanctions. Low border rejection rate. UK-EU TCA creates some additional customs documentation burden.
Supply chain traceability
2
High EcoVadis and SMETA coverage. Strong digital traceability infrastructure. Formal economy dominant. High transparency standards.
Labour & Social Risk
Labour & Social Risk
- Modern Slavery Act 2015
- Requires commercial organisations with £36m+ annual turnover supplying goods or services in the UK to publish an annual modern slavery and human trafficking statement. Covers supply chains globally.
- Worker rights framework
- Comprehensive employment law framework: National Minimum Wage, Working Time Regulations, Equality Act 2010, and the Employment Rights Act. Trade union rights protected.
- Domestic risk areas
- Seasonal agricultural workers, food processing, car washing, domestic work, and construction have historically been sectors where modern slavery indicators are identified in the UK.
- ILO conventions
- UK has ratified all eight ILO fundamental conventions including C087 (Freedom of Association) and C098 (Right to Organise).
- NRM referrals
- The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) processes modern slavery referrals. Over 17,000 potential victims were referred in 2022, indicating active identification — not necessarily elevated prevalence.
EU Regulatory Exposure
EU Regulatory Exposure
- Post-Brexit trade
- UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) in force from January 2021. Zero tariffs and zero quotas on goods meeting rules of origin. Some friction remains in documentary requirements.
- Rules of origin
- Products must meet TCA rules of origin to benefit from zero tariff. Insufficient processing (e.g. re-labelling or minor processing) does not confer UK/EU origin.
- SPS checks
- EU SPS checks apply to food and feed imports from the UK. UK food exporters to the EU must comply with EU food safety regulations — EU law is not automatically equivalent to UK domestic standards.
- EUDR exposure
- UK does not produce EUDR-regulated commodities at commercially significant scale. UK-origin goods present minimal EUDR compliance burden.
- UK EUDR equivalent
- UK is developing its own forest risk commodity due diligence regime under the Environment Act 2021. Applicable to larger businesses using Schedule 1 forest risk commodities.
Logistics & Supply Chain
Logistics & Supply Chain
- Primary trade corridors
- Dover–Calais (road/rail), North Sea ports (Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg), direct maritime routes via Felixstowe and Tilbury.
- Key border points
- Dover, Folkestone (Eurotunnel), Harwich, Tilbury, Felixstowe
- Transit time to EU
- 1–3 days to Northwest Europe by road/rail. Same-day for air freight.
- Post-Brexit documentation
- Export declarations, import declarations, certificates of origin required for TCA preferential tariff claims. IPAFFS notifications required for SPS goods moving to GB from EU.
- Scope 3 relevance
- Short-haul freight between UK and EU generates approximately 0.02–0.08 kg CO₂e per kg of cargo (road/short-sea estimate) — significantly lower than long-haul Asian origins.