The Government is engaging extensively with the fuel supply industry, as it is with other sectors, to ensure we fully understand and respond to the potential impacts of a Brexit without a withdrawal agreement on the sector. These discussions contain sensitive commercial information that the companies have provided to the Government in confidence and therefore it would not be appropriate to make this information public.

The Baniyas Refinery Company has been designated by the EU since 23 July 2014. The reasons for its designation include that "it provides financial support to the Syrian regime". Article 14(2) of Council Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 provides that no funds or economic resources shall be made available, directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of designated persons. All persons who are within or undertake activities within EU territory, including the territorial waters of EU Member States, must comply with EU financial sanctions that are in force.

If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the UK will implement a temporary tariff.

The policy has been designed with the aim of minimising disruption and strikes a balance between avoiding high adjustment costs and protecting businesses from unfair trade in some sectors, and liberalising tariffs to maintain current supply chains and to avoid increases in consumer prices.

A range of evidence, including internal Government modelling on tariffs in a no deal scenario, supplemented with business stakeholder engagement, has identified sectors that would face significant adjustment costs from liberalisation, and where a reduction in tariffs could help mitigate consumer price increases.

At the end of the temporary period, the Government will introduce a long-term tariff regime. This will be developed over the course of the coming months following a full public consultation process.