The UK has signed a bilateral customs agreement with the US to ensure that companies continue to trade after Brexit, the Treasury said in a statement on its website on Wednesday.

Jesse Norman, Secretary of Financial Affairs, UK Treasury: "this agreement will enable us to continue to work together to combat customs crime through the sharing of information and good practices, and to provide a legal basis for mechanisms to facilitate trade flows between importers and exporters".

U.S. ambassador Woody Johnson said the agreement will ensure that the two countries can continue their day-to-day cooperation to "stop criminals from smuggling illegal goods across the Atlantic-- from guns to drugs, to illegal wildlife products and even fake medicines."

Johnson said the agreement provides a "legal basis" for "arrangements for mutual recognition of authorized economic operators."

Note: the Brexit transition period will end on December 31.