It is official: the government has decided that last year’s vote to leave the European Union means the UK must also leave the Customs Union, the area in which there are no tariffs on goods moving around between states.

The UK government confirmed its resolve to ultimately leave the Customs Union in a document published on 15 August 2017 on potential models for future customs arrangements. It was the first in a series of papers expected to be released by the government over the coming months, which aim to outline the UK’s negotiating stance on Brexit.

With less than 600 days until the UK must leave the bloc in March 2019, policymakers are finally beginning to fill in the blanks on what exactly they want from Brexit and how they plan to get there.