In this week’s EU Exit Bulletin, we cover what’s known about the publication by the UK government of a Bill to override elements of the Northern Ireland Protocol. We also bring you an update from the latest meeting of the Joint Customs Consultative Committee of which the Institute is a member. In other news, HMRC has published a declarant checklist for moving to the Customs Declarations Service and we bring you the latest updated guidance on GOV.UK.
UK government publishes Bill to amend Northern Ireland Protocol
Earlier this week, the UK Government published the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill. The Government also published a policy paper and explanatory notes for the Bill, as well as its legal position. As announced by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in May, the Bill will disapply key elements of the Protocol that relate to goods trade, VAT, the role of the Court of Justice of the EU as well as subsidy control.
Among the changes, a ‘green lane’ would be provided for trusted British traders moving goods into Northern Ireland that are not intended for the EU single market. Products that are destined for the EU would be placed in a ‘red lane’ and undergo full checks and customs controls. A dual regulatory regime is also proposed under which traders could choose to follow either the UK or EU’s regime. Furthermore, the UK has proposed that Northern Ireland would follow UK VAT rules for trading in goods and not the EU VAT rules that currently apply.
The UK government has provided this diagram in the policy paper outlining a sketch of how the green and red lane system would work (Source: GOV.UK).
Full technical details will be published at a later date.
Following the publication of the Bill, the EU has re-launched its legal action against the UK, with European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič saying in a statement the UK had “confirmed its intention to unilaterally break international law.” The European Commission also set out details of their infringement proceedings in a statement.
The Institute, in a statement following the publication of the Bill, said that the lack of detail in the Bill was a reminder that the current rules, however imperfect, are better than an uncertain alternative that is being proposed.
Institute updated on latest on NI Protocol Bill
The Institute attended a meeting of the Joint Customs Consultative Committee (JCCC) this week where UK Government officials shared information on what is contained in the NI Protocol Bill.
Officials told attendees that there is no change to the procedures currently in place for moving goods and no action is needed by traders while the Bill is making its way through Parliament. In addition, existing stand-still arrangements and grace periods and easements remain in place.
Officials confirmed that secondary legislation will develop the technical detail but were able to share the following:
- The green lane approach will be underpinned by the existing Trusted Trader Scheme and the current requirement to be established in the UK rather than Northern Ireland specifically would apply here.
- A dual regulatory regime would be established whereby traders can choose between UK and EU standards.
- Existing stand-still arrangements and grace periods and easements remain in place and ‘adequate’ time will be given for any new changes to be implemented.
- Officials stated that they are aware of the concerns that a dual regulatory regime could mean a border on the island of Ireland, but their view is that the Bill does not necessitate a North/South border
- Officials also acknowledged the design of new schema needs to be prepared with close engagement with businesses and that a system in theory does not always work in practice.
Government officials were told that businesses in Northern Ireland needed certainty on the processes which they will face as well as the expected timeline for such changes. Furthermore, the importance of Northern Ireland continuing to have access to EU markets was also noted. The UK has not sought to disapply this particular article of the Protocol.
A consultation process on the new regime will be announced shortly and we will keep members updated.
Miscellaneous updated guidance
The following documents/guidance relevant to EU exit have been updated/published recently:
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