Trade from North to Great Britain will be ‘99.9%’ unfettered, says Gove

There has been no pushback from EU on British government interpretation of protocol, Michael Gove told MPs when speaking to the House of Commons Future Relations Committee earlier today.

Michael Gove has told MPs that the European Commission has not offered any pushback against Britain’s interpretation of the Northern Ireland protocol’s promise of “unfettered access” for goods from the North to Great Britain. In a document outlining its approach to implementing the protocol, the British government said that such goods would not require an export declaration.

“Our interpretation in the command paper is that there is no requirement for that and there hasn’t been any pushback against that. There is a tiny, tiny set of exceptions . . . but for 99.9 per cent recurring of trade from Northern Ireland to GB, no paperwork and no declarations should be required,” the minister for the cabinet office said.

Mr Gove was giving evidence to the House of Commons committee on the future relationship with the EU, alongside Britain’s chief negotiator David Frost. He confirmed that goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland would be subject to a “light-touch electronic process” and that British officials would process customs declarations.

“Of course we’ll make sure that the EU is fully sighted on how we’re operating that process. The overwhelming majority of trade from GB to NI stays in NI at the moment. But of course if there was a good that went from Great Britain to Northern Ireland and then into the Republic, then a tariff would be payable when it went into the Republic and we are of course committed to paying or remitting the cost of that tariff for the company affected,” he said.

“We’ve outlined a way in which we think we can protect the EU single market and also the UK’s internal market in a way that has the least possible bureaucratic and other pressure on Northern Ireland’s businesses and people.”

Meanwhile, the North’s agriculture minister, the DUP’s Edwin Poots, has said Brexit could bring opportunities for Northern Ireland.

Sourcce: TheIrishTimes