French SMEs that do business with UK poorly prepared for Brexit

PARIS (Reuters) - More than half of French small and mid-sized companies that do business with Britain have not assessed the impact of Brexit, according to a French finance ministry survey, weekly newspaper Journal du Dimanche (JDD) reported.

France has warned companies bringing goods in and out of Britain through its border after Brexit that they are responsible for making sure their paperwork is in order, French junior economy minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told Reuters earlier.

JDD cited results of an October poll of 3,000 SMEs that showed 54% of the companies declared not knowing how Britain's exit from the European Union would impact their business, while 40% have studied potential consequences and only 6% have exact calculations.

The survey also showed that 53% of the companies surveyed said they were poorly prepared for Brexit.

"I cannot be satisfied with that 54 percent of the companies declared not having examined the consequences of Brexit for themselves, their clients and their suppliers," Pannier-Runacher told JDD.

Pannier has said the government had done all it could to prepare. Now it was up to the companies to act.

(Reporting by Marine Pennetier and Maya Nikolaeva. Editing by Jane Merriman)