Northern Secretary Peter Hain is expected to declare that his government no longer recognises the Ulster Volunteer Force ceasefire tomorrow.
The expected announcement comes in the wake of three nights of rioting across Northern Ireland which has left more than 60 police officers injured and damage running into millions. Police believe the violence has mainly been orchestrated by the UVF.
The British government has also been studying a report from the Independent Monitoring Commission on the UVF's feud with the Loyalist Volunteer Force.
A spokesman for the Northern Ireland Office declined to comment on the matter.
The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) today called for an end to the violence after a third night of rioting across Northern Ireland. The group in north Belfast, one of the worst affected areas, said the rioting must cease.
The UDA statement said: "We are instructing our own membership to avoid any confrontation on the streets and steer away from any acts of violence."
There has been street violence on three consecutive nights since a disputed Orange Order parade in west Belfast was controversially rerouted on Saturday. Police said 63 arrests had been made.
Today's UDA statement is highly significant, coming amid demands by police chiefs, government ministers, and nationalist politicians, for better unionist leadership.
Loyalists blocked key roads in Belfast and rioted for a third night in a row last night. Rioting resumed in several parts of the city where loyalist gangs hijacked and burned vehicles and attacked police.
The PSNI today said 10 officers had been injured and a total of 63 people have been arrested since Saturday night.
Gangs hijacked and burned more vehicles on the Crumlin Road in north Belfast, although police prevented the hijacking of a bus and seized crates of petrol and paint bombs.
Several thousand police equipped with shields, body armour, flame-retardant suits, guns loaded with plastic bullets, armoured personnel carriers, mobile water cannon and tear gas were on standby in fortified barracks across the city.
Around 30 people, including two juveniles, were arrested for riotous behaviour during the widespread violence.
PSNI Chief Inspector Stephen Martin warned: "This mayhem needs to stop before someone is injured or killed."
The rioting was most intense in north Belfast - scene of the start of the trouble after the Orange Order parade was rerouted away from a Catholic area on Saturday.
Police and soldiers were attacked with blast bombs, petrol bombs, paint bombs and other missiles including fireworks. Nineteen of the arrests were made there, 10 for riotous behaviour and nine for petrol-bombing.
In west Belfast, at least 40 petrol bombs were thrown at the security forces and New Barnsley police station, scarred from bomb blasts and vehicle rammings on Saturday night, was again attacked.
In the east of the city, a car was hijacked and police were attacked with petrol and paint bombs. It was the same in the south of the city.
Outside the city, police were attacked in Lisburn, Co Antrim, where three arrests were made during petrol-bombing. A woman motorist was dragged from her car, which was turned into a burning barricade.
In Ballymena, Co Antrim, a car was set on fire in the Ballykeel estate and a stockpile of 10 crates of milk bottles filled with petrol together with two 10- gallon containers of petrol were seized.
In Co Down, there was trouble in Bangor, Newtownards and Millisle, where several vehicles were set on fire and a shop burned out.
The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) today called for an end to the violence after a third night of rioting across Northern Ireland. The group in north Belfast, one of the worst affected areas, said the rioting must cease.