New Brexit transit rules have come into effect

With effect from Tuesday this week, all food or animal feed products transiting through Northern Ireland from the EU will be subject to UK border controls. These will not apply to food or feed products that are processed or originate in Northern Ireland by Northern Ireland-registered processors.

What this means is that exporters from the Republic of Ireland that use Northern Ireland ports for exporting to Britain will be subject to the same border controls as those that export through either Dublin or Rosslare ports. This will also apply to any other EU or global product as well as Irish-origin production.

For Northern Ireland companies that are shipping products originating or processed in Northern Ireland, they will be able to deliver them to Britain without any border controls in the same way that product moves between England, Scotland and Wales.

Checks

This will mean that factories in Northern Ireland that source their raw material in the Republic of Ireland for processing will be able to deliver to ports in Britain without checks and paperwork.

While the issue of border controls between Northern Ireland and Britain has been politically sensitive, these controls should be uncontroversial.

For Northern Ireland companies, it will be business as usual with no change. For Republic of Ireland companies, there will be additional paperwork and the possibility of checks but nothing more than is currently in place for goods going directly to Britain from Dublin or Rosslare ports.

While no business wishes for additional bureaucracy, the indications are that exporters from Ireland to Britain have been able to live with border controls. Inspections appear to have been undertaken with a light touch and there has been no major switching to Northern Ireland ports to avoid UK border controls up to now.