TL:DR
The UK Gov’s Command Paper on NI reveals some significant differences between the position of the UK and that of the EU with respect to operationalising the NI Protocol. These will no doubt spill over into the on-going future relationship negotiations.
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The UK Gov’s Command Paper on NI reveals some significant differences between the position of the UK and that of the EU with respect to operationalising the NI Protocol. These will no doubt spill over into the on-going future relationship negotiations.
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Some of the differences are more to do with positioning and may not be substantive. Others, such as re-interpreting the original wording of the Protocol of goods “at risk” to goods where there is “a genuine and substantial risk”, may be more substantial.
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The substantive differences concern which goods will be subject to checks, on which flows, and how the checks will be carried out to the satisfaction of both the UK and the EU; and relatedly, what infrastructure and institutions are needed.
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Determining which goods are at risk will be challenging as the final destination of the goods will be unknown at the time of crossing the Irish Sea border.
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Even more now - over 55% of tariff lines are lower than the EU’s under the new Tariff. And also by the Gov’s approach to the mutual recognition of standards and conformity assessment. A lack of detailed data makes it hard to quantify the actual amount of affected trade
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The UK Government’s position with regard to the ‘unfettered’ flow from NI to GB raises the prospect of trade deflection of goods into GB via NI, and relatedly whether this position is WTO compatible.
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It is now clear that companies in NI and GB will need to complete new paperwork and comply with new reporting requirements, which will increase costs and represents a significant departure from how companies trade at the moment. Companies should plan for this.
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For more check out the paper.
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