Selling goods overseas? A barely-noticed new law will have you putting the champagne on ice

You’ve probably never heard of the Electronic Trade Documents Act, writes Chris Blackhurst, but bear with me... this could be the most important piece of business legislation the UK has passed in years

Traders will no longer have to provide paper forms of some key documents (iStock)

Amid the news stories about Russell Brand, Rishi Sunak’s U-turn on climate crisis measures and King Charles’s state visit to France, a vital, positive development for the UK’s myriad businesses this week slipped by unnoticed.

If you’re a small- to medium-sized enterprise and you buy and sell abroad, you should uncork the champagne. Suddenly, your life has been made a whole lot easier.

The Electronic Trade Documents Act has been passed into law. It’s quite a mouthful, but please don’t look away, because the statute has been heralded in some quarters as the most important piece of business legislation the UK has passed in years.