NI Protocol: Business consortium urge EU and UK to end impasse

A consortium of Northern Ireland business groups have told the EU and UK that urgent agreement is needed on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

This comes as UK inflation hit a 40-year high.

The NI Business Brexit Working Group said the two sides should redouble their efforts to end the impasse.

The group said the EU needed to show more ambition on the issues of controls on food products and parcels going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

It also warned that part of the UK's plan to override the protocol would "create a myriad of reputational, legal and commercial risks".

The protocol is the post-Brexit trading arrangement that was agreed by the UK government and the EU in 2019.

It keeps Northern Ireland inside the EU's single market for goods, preventing checks on goods at the Irish border and giving Northern Ireland manufacturers better access to the EU than companies in other parts of the UK.

It also means there are checks and controls on goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain, leading to added cost and complexity for importing businesses.

The UK government said the protocol was not working.

It is planning to override most of the deal if the EU does not agree to radical changes.

Both sides said they wanted a negotiated settlement but there have been no high level political talks since February.

The working group, whose members include the CBI, NI Chamber of Commerce and Ulster Farmers' Union, said "for too long this issue has been dominated by inflexibility and intransigence but Northern Ireland is now facing into the most difficult of winters".

The EU made proposals last year to simplify the paperwork needed to move goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

However, the working group said it would need "more ambition" from the EU to "tackle the disproportionate burden placed on goods that are not at any material risk of entering the EU single market".

The UK government is currently consulting Northern Ireland business on its plans to override the protocol.

It is understood there has been broad support for the concept of 'green lanes', which would mean GB goods that are destined only for Northern Ireland, would not need to be checked and would have minimal paperwork.

However, there has been some resistance to the plan for a 'dual regulatory regime', which would mean goods made to either EU or UK standard could be sold in Northern Ireland.

Some business have argued this would mainly be for the convenience of Great Britain businesses and would cause difficulties for Northern Ireland exporters, which are part of EU supply chains.

It is understood some businesses have argued that some sectors or products should be carved out of the dual regulatory system and continue to follow only EU standards.

The working group said: "We have also been clear with the UK government that if it proceeds unilaterally with the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, particularly with the creation of an all-encompassing dual regulatory regime, it will create a myriad of reputational, legal and commercial risks for many of our businesses."