Brexit blow for NI trade with Britain
BUSINESSES in Northern Ireland will face additional barriers to trade with Britain after Brexit, despite Boris Johnson’s promises to the contrary, the Government admitted yesterday.
The Prime Minister said last year that customs declaration forms could be thrown “in the bin” because there would be “no barriers of any kind” to trade crossing the Irish Sea after negotiating the Withdrawal Agreement with Brussels.
But Michael Gove, minister for the Cabinet Office, told MPS that traders in
Northern Ireland would not face any extra red tape on goods they were exporting elsewhere in the UK but he admitted that would be subject to the EU agreeing to that system.
He said: “There will need to be declarations on goods, as they are moved from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. But these systems will be electronic and administered by UK authorities.”
Mr Gove admitted that existing customs posts in places like Larne and Belfast would need to be expanded and there would have to be more checks in the agriculture and food sector to ensure animals met EU standards.
Mr Johnson agreed that Northern
Ireland would stay part of the EU’S customs territory after Brexit to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland.
Under the terms of the deal, the border is effectively moved to the Irish Sea rather than risk the inflammatory return of guards and checks to the border.
Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, said the new protocol meant “a significant escalation” in customs checks and would need a brand new border management system.
She said the new government paper exposed “the broken promises made by the Prime Minister”. “Today there has been an admission for the first time that there will be additional checks, that there will be tariffs on goods at risk of entering the single market,” she added. “Even now, many fear that the Government is not willing to admit the full extent of those.”
Mr Gove said there would only be tariffs on British goods imported to Northern Ireland which were at risk of entering the single market, if ongoing UK-EU trade negotiations failed.
Michel Barnier, the EU’S chief negotiator, yesterday responded furiously to a letter from David Frost, his British counterpart, criticising the bloc’s offer of a zero tariff trade deal. Mr Frost wrote to Mr Barnier on
Tuesday, saying what was on offer was “a relatively low quality trade agreement coming with unprecedented EU oversight of our laws and institutions”.
But Mr Barnier said an exchange of letters “cannot be a substitute for serious engagement and detailed negotiations”.
He added: “I would not like the tone that you have taken to impact the mutual trust and constructive attitude that is essential between us.”
Britain argues that EU demands for “level playing field” guarantees on tax, state aid, labour rights and the environment, are far stricter than those asked from countries like Canada.