Israel
COVID-19 Restrictions
April 21, 2020 |
Due to the Passover holiday, Israel is in almost full lockdown for 72 hours. People are instructed to stay in their cities.
Marinas -will stay open to arrival and departure of vessels - no permit has been issued to close marinas. Foreign citizens aren’t allowed to enter - except for special instructions and permission in advance by the Population and Immigration authorities. Israelis will be allowed to enter the state in accordance with the Ministry of Health instructions. Every Israeli entering the country will be required to a 14-day quarantine.
Quarantine on sailing vessels is not permitted throughout all marina areas. Checking procedures of sailing vessels will be carried out in a separate pier, the same as it was up until now. Coming in touch with the vessels’ body does not require a special protection uniform. Sanitizing vessels is not required. All costs deriving from the treatments of vessels will be carried out by the vessel owner, with in advance notice.
Business- Permitted business are supermarkets, groceries, bakeries, food shops, pharmacies, optics stores, animal food stores, household maintenance services, electric shops, communication products and services and medical equipment.
Business will operate while maintaining 2 meters of distance from customers. No more than 4 customers per cash register in a store.
Work places- Employers must take employees’ temperature upon entrance to the workplace. Employees are required to fill out a symptom declaration form to be kept by the employers. Employers should work remotely as much as possible. In a workplace, people are to keep 2 meters from each other, open windows and restrict work to 2 people in the same room.
Transportation- When driving in a private vehicle, 2 people are allowed.
Upon operating busses, trains, light rail or shuttles, an empty row that separates drivers from passengers is required. One person per bench. Standing passengers need to keep 2 meters from each other. Ventilation and cleaning of the vehicle is required after each ride. In a taxi, one passenger is allowed in the back seat while all vehicle’s windows are open.
Resident restrictions - When entering public places, wearing a mask that covers the mouth and the nose is required. Gatherings in public places are not allowed.
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Japan
COVID-19 Restrictions
April 21, 2020 |
Japan is not currently on lockdown. Marinas are open without any restrictions.
Imported boat dealers will hold the new boat sea trial for potential customers Individually from April.
From manufacturers’ point, some parts from China have been delayed and companies are looking for alternative suppliers. There is concern about the reduction of volume due to the global demand downturn.
"Emergency Declaration" in the metropolitan area is expected to be announced on 7th April.
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Croatia
Government support of industry during COVID-19
April 21, 2020 |
Croatian Government confirmed set of measures that are aimed at job protection and postponement or relief of taxes to aid the economy.
- The amount of 1.14 bn Euro is dedicated for job retention in March, April, and May. In total, the Croatian government will pay approx. 700 Eur per employee per month.
- All tax payers affected by this crisis will be fully or partially exempt from paying corporate income tax, payroll taxes and salary contributions due in April, May and June 2020. The companies with a drop in revenues between 20% to 50% will have the right to defer taxes and will be able to pay them in 24 monthly annuities with no interest. Businesses with revenue of less than 1 mil. Euro and with a drop in revenue higher than 50% will be fully exempted from corporate income tax, payroll taxes and salary contributions.
- All financial loans and leasing contracts have been suspended for 3 months, with possibility to extend it to 6 or 12 months depending on the development of the situation
- Payment of the value added tax might be deferred until the invoices issued are paid off.
- The deadline for submission of the 2019 annual financial statements is postponed to 30 June and there is no obligation to pay a fee to the Financial Agency (FINA) for their publication.
- In addition, the Government has launched Financial Agency's digital platform to help with the implementation of the Covid-19 measures. This platform enables submitting an application, collecting the information necessary for the decision making and creating a report.
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Finland
Government support of industry during COVID-19
April 21, 2020 |
Government has promised support packages for businesses so they can keep people on the payroll. Support has also been promised for individual entrepreneurs, but there is a rush for the subsidies and it takes time to process the applications.
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United Kingdom
COVID-19 Restrictions
April 21, 2020 |
On the 23 March 2020, The UK Government said that everyone should stay at home, initially for 3 weeks. The lockdown has been extended until 7th May.
You should only leave the house for very limited purposes:
- shopping for basic necessities, for example food and medicine, which must be as infrequent as possible.
- one form of exercise a day, for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household.
- any medical need, including to donate blood, avoid or escape risk of injury or harm, or to provide care or to help a vulnerable person.
- travelling for work purposes, but only where you cannot work from home.
These reasons are exceptions - even when doing these activities, you should be minimising time spent outside of the home and ensuring you are 2 metres apart from anyone outside of your household.
With the exception of the organisations covered by non-essential shops and public spaces, the Government has not required any other businesses to close – indeed it is important for business to carry on.
Employers and employees should discuss their working arrangements, and employers should take every possible step to facilitate their employees working from home, including providing suitable IT and equipment to enable remote working.
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United Kingdom
Government support of industry during COVID-19
April 21, 2020 |
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme goes live on Monday, 20th April and British Marine are encouraging all their members to apply where applicable.
Businesses that fall within the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will benefit from a 12-month business rates holiday.
The UK Government has also announced a series of grants for UK businesses. Businesses with a rateable value of under £15,000 will be entitled to receive a grant of up to £10,000.
For businesses with a rateable value of between £15,000 and £51,000 they will be eligible to receive a grant of up to £25,000. British Marine understands that local authorities will contact eligible businesses directly and so there is no requirement to file an application.
The Government has launched a temporary Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme to help businesses that may require additional financial assistance.
The scheme will provide loans of up to £5 million in value. These will be backed by the British Business Bank and delivered through commercial lenders. This scheme is now open for applications and we would encourage businesses to discuss their requirements directly with the banks participating in the scheme, details of which can be found here.
The Government is taking additional measures to protect jobs by creating a dedicated Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. This scheme applies to all UK businesses, regardless of their size. Employers will be able to contact HMRC for a grant to cover most of the wages of staff who are not working but are furloughed and kept on the company’s payroll system.
This grant from the UK Government will cover 80% of the salary of retained workers up to a total of £2,500 per month. We understand payments will be backdated to 1 March 2020 with the expectation that the scheme will be in place for a period of three months, with the first set of grants being delivered by the end of April. Employees must have been on the company’s payroll on 28 February 2020 to qualify.
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Spain
Government support of industry during COVID-19
April 21, 2020 |
The government approved on 24 March the launch of credits for 20,000 million to guarantee the liquidity of the companies most affected by Covid-19. Half of that amount will be used to guarantee new loans to SMEs and the self-employed.
Paying taxes is delayed.
The term of the tax procedures already started will last until April 30, and those that are going to open are extended until May 20.
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Poland
Government support of industry during COVID-19
April 21, 2020 |
The Polish government has introduced a plan to support entrepreneurs, whose main points are
- Exemption from social security, health insurance contributions for 3 months, from March to May for enterprises employing up to 9 people and self-employed
- coverage by the state of 40% of salaries for employees
- loans to employers to help maintain cash flow of companies
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Portugal
Government support of industry during COVID-19
April 21, 2020 |
Many financial measures have been published to help the workers and the companies. Most of them trying to avoid unemployment. Many more will follow as we are far from seeing the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’.
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Singapore
Government support of industry during COVID-19
April 21, 2020 |
An overview of the relief measures for the maritime sector is shown in the link below (some but not all applicable to recreational boating):
https://www.mpa.gov.sg/web/portal/home/maritime-singapore/what-maritime-...
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