seekers that have transited that state en route to the UK. Home Office hostile environment policy Originally the 'Hostile Environment Policy' was created in 2012 by Theresa May, the Conservative Home Secretary at that time with the purpose to create in Britain 'a really hostile environment for illegal immigrants'. In practical terms, this policy "effectively outsources immigration control to civil society. Landlords, doctors, employers and others have come under a strict legal obligation to check people's documentation". In Brexit context 'up to 90,000 people may be left outside the system' and 'face the impact of the hostile environment': losing the right to work, access to medical care or stay in their home, or potentially put in a detention centre and removed from the country. Company With the end of the transition period planned on 1 January 2021, companies operating business with British nations will need to change their trade mark, border and copyright policies to comply with new British procedures and their associated costs. Duty and VAT The Brexit/trade agreement led to a change in duty and in VAT. For instance, EU buyers of British-made items now pay their national VAT rather than the (previously applicable) British one. Products sold by British vendors but made (for example) in China may be subject to additional import duties. These tax and duty charges are collected by the forwarding agent at the point of delivery. Institutional changes Agencies located in the UK Until 2017, the UK had been hosting the European Medicines Agency and the European Banking Authority for many years. As an EU agency could not be located outside the Union, the Council began a process to identify new host cities for the agencies. Hosting an agency is seen as a valuable prize for a city, so the process was hotly contested by nearly two dozen cities not just on the objective criteria, but on political grounds. By November 2017, it was agreed that they would relocate to Amsterdam and Paris. The backup data centre for the security behind the Galileo satellite navigation system was also relocated from the UK to Spain due to Brexit. European Parliament seats The UK was allotted 73 seats in the 751 seat European Parliament, which became vacant upon its withdrawal in 2020. 27 of these seats were redistributed to other countries, with the remaining 46 reserved for potential new member states, reducing the number of MEPs