The UK exited the Brexit transition period at 11 pm on New Year's Eve, havingjust days earlier struck a trade agreement with the EU. The deal included a 'level playing field' clause intended to uphold common environmental and employment standards. Despite offering tariff-free and quota-free trade, increases in export-related red tape sparked a backlash from hauliers stuck in Kent and firms left unable to economically trade abroad. The deal in effect also created a border in the Irish Sea, requiring firms transporting waste from England, Scotland and Wales to Northern Ireland to comply with EU waste shipment controls. Boris Johnson was quick to highlight the deregulatory opportunities that leaving the EU's legal framework offers, asking the leaders of 250 firms in a video call on 6 January what regulations they would like to eliminate.
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