Post-Brexit Northern Ireland trade rules still need work, UK committee hears

Post-Brexit trading rules for Northern Ireland due to take effect within weeks will prove “more burdensome” than current arrangements, a House of Lords committee has warned, urging London to “get on with” negotiating outstanding details.

The Windsor framework, agreed by UK prime minister Rishi Sunak, the Republic and the European Union in February, promised sweeping changes to the so-called Northern Ireland protocol, which had soured UK-EU relations and plunged the region into a political crisis.

In a 133-page report published on Tuesday, the House of Lords Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland Committee welcomed the framework as a “distinct improvement” on the previous deal, particularly for large retailers, which can use a new “green lane” to send goods check-free into the region.

The committee’s chair, Lord Michael Jay, said, however, there remained unresolved problems, including over requirements for labels on goods destined to remain only in Northern Ireland and rules for hauliers transporting mixed loads from Britain, of which only a small fraction may end up heading into the EU.

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“There’s no doubt the Windsor framework is a big, big improvement,” he said. He added, however, that a “huge amount of work” remained to be done. “This is not the end of the game – it’s the beginning,” he said.

The Windsor deal promises unique access to both the EU and UK single markets for Northern Irish goods but companies and trade groups told the committee “the movement of goods is likely to be more burdensome than the protocol as it has operated to date” because grace periods have prevented its full implementation.

Brexit left Northern Ireland inside the EU’s single market for goods but the protocol, which took effect in 2021, put a customs border in the Irish Sea, angering unionists. .

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The Democratic Unionist Party has blocked the formation of a powersharing executive over the issue since elections in May last year and is demanding as yet unspecified guarantees from London that its rights will be protected as a precondition to returning to the Stormont executive and assembly.

The Windsor framework promises to sweep aside the vast majority of onerous protocol customs paperwork if companies register for a trusted trader scheme that will launch on September 30th.

If their goods are destined to stay within the region, they will enter Northern Ireland via a green channel. Goods at risk of travelling on to Ireland and the EU will pass through a red channel, with full customs, food and animal health checks. Some businesses say they will opt to use red lanes to gain free access to the EU.

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After October 1st, meat and dairy products entering via the green lane will need to carry labels that state: “Not for EU.”

Trade body Retail NI said it was “disappointed at the lack of effective engagement on the labelling issue”, said chief executive, Glyn Roberts. “We need to ensure this new scheme works for independent retailers and large supermarkets alike,” he added.

Although Brexit was designed to allow the UK to chart its own regulatory course, some industries, such as dairy, require UK and EU rules to remain aligned because much of Northern Ireland’s milk is processed in Ireland.

Jay warned that regulatory divergence between the EU and UK “is going to cause difficulties”. Some businesses fear the region could end up in a regulatory “no-man’s-land” that could hurt its supply chains and competitiveness.

He also cautioned that on some outstanding issues, like a deal on the supply of veterinary medicines, “It’s not just clarifying what has been agreed, it’s actually negotiating what hasn’t yet been agreed.”

He added: “They’ve really got to get on with that.” – The Financial Times