Accusing some customs officers of refusing to believe that textile exports for recycling have originated from UK, Textile Recycling Association (TRA), has raised the matter with the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy. Although the Brexit deal allows goods that originate in the UK to be exported tariff-free to the EU, disputes have arisen over whether textiles exported for recycling originated in the UK or where they were manufactured.

TRA argues, the garment origin is irrelevant in terms of the Brexit deal. When garments arrive in the UK, they are then bought by consumers and potentially used for years by the original buyer or later ones before being deposited for reuse or recycling.

They will then be sorted in the UK or exported for sorting and processing abroad using a specific export product code for worn clothing and worn textile items. This meant they have legally become a new product while in the UK, and so it can be declared as the country of origin.