Filling out export declarations on goods travelling from Northern Ireland to Great Britain after the end of the Brexit transition period is not a “make or break” issue for the region’s businesses, industry leaders from the region told MPs on Wednesday.
The relaxed position towards EU demands for ‘exit summary declarations’ from businesses in the region is in sharp contrast to UK prime minister Boris Johnson’s insistence they cannot be tolerated under any circumstances.
Stephen Kelly, the chief executive of Manufacturing Northern Ireland, the trade group, said his members were “not bothered” about filling out the information forms, which he said could be included as a “drop down menu” in existing ferry booking systems.
“I have no one in business coming to me and saying it is a ‘make or break’ for them, in terms of completing a form to send stuff from here [Northern Ireland] to GB. They already do that when they are booking items on to a ferry,” he said.
The comments come as UK and EU negotiators race to try to complete a trade agreement before the transition period expires on December 31. On Tuesday the Irish premier Micheál Martin said both sides could see the landing zones for a deal, raising expectations one could be clinched next week.
The Northern Ireland trade leaders said securing a zero-tariff free trade agreement was essential to helping to smooth the flow of trade between the UK and Northern Ireland after Brexit.
Mr Kelly said he recognised the issues of identity and sovereignty raised by the declarations, but added that “from a practical and a cost point of view, it doesn’t really bother us so much”.
The government has emphatically ruled out Northern Ireland businesses filling out EU “exit summary declaration” forms arguing they are unnecessary and contradict a pledge by both sides to maintain “unfettered” access for the region to the UK’s internal market. UK officials argue the paperwork is complex and could not simply be added as a drop-down menu to a ferry company booking site.
Still, the EU says the declarations are required under the bloc’s customs code that Mr Johnson agreed Northern Ireland would follow as part of October 2019’s Brexit divorce deal to avoid the return of a hard trade border on the island of Ireland.
Negotiations are continuing between the EU and the UK over the implementation of the so-called Protocol on Northern Ireland, but Brussels has not yet acceded to a UK request to waive the exit summary declarations, which became a major sticking point between the two sides.
In September the government took the controversial step of tabling legislation in the UK internal market bill to overwrite the Protocol in the event a deal could not be reached, saying it would unilaterally refuse to apply the exit summary declaration requirement. The European Commission has now launched legal proceedings over the issue.
Aodhán Connolly, the director of Northern Ireland Retail Consortium, noted that the exit summary declarations were, as the name suggested, only “summaries” and not the same as full export paperwork.
Victor Chestnutt, president of the Ulster Farmers’ Union, added that some of his members would also welcome a measure of control on goods flowing to Great Britain to guard against the risk that Northern Ireland becomes a “backdoor” into the UK internal market, undermining the reputation of its produce.
Citing the example of cheaper Brazilian beef, Mr Chestnutt said Northern Ireland must guard against “brass plate” businesses using Northern Ireland as an entry point for lower-quality goods into the UK internal market.
Mr Kelly of Manufacturing Northern Ireland agreed. “What you are beginning to hear from certain parts of the Northern Ireland business community is that actually some frictions may be welcome because it protects the integrity of our products and our goods and avoids Northern Ireland as a backdoor,” he said.
The three business leaders were giving evidence to the parliament’s select committee on the EU-UK future relationship. All expressed alarm that the new regulatory border in the Irish Sea for goods travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland would not be ready by January 1.
The Cabinet Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
