12 May 2020

FT: EU increases pressure on Britain over Irish Sea customs border

Brussels has drawn up plans to determine which goods entering Northern Ireland should face EU import duties as it seeks to put pressure on Britain into fully applying the Irish Sea customs border that Boris Johnson agreed to last year as part of his Brexit deal.

The European Commission has proposed a system that would vet different imports based on whether the UK charges a lower, higher or similar tariff to the EU, insisting that strong measures must be put in place to reduce the risk of smuggling across the Irish land border.

Working out which goods should face EU customs duties when they enter Northern Ireland is one of the main pieces of unfinished work from last year’s Brexit deal, which placed a regulatory and customs border down the Irish Sea in order to avoid the need for one on the island of Ireland.

The UK will be in charge of carrying out the checks, with oversight from the EU. The UK and EU last week held the inaugural meeting of the special committee tasked with working out how to implement the Brexit treaty’s protocol on Northern Ireland. Further technical talks are planned ahead of a political level-meeting in June.

The new system will be required irrespective of the EU and UK’s talks on a post-Brexit trade deal. Under the EU approach, which was explained confidentially to EU diplomats last month, goods will be considered at risk if a UK tariff is significantly lower than an EU one, creating an incentive for smugglers. In situations where the tariff levels were similar, further checks would be needed.

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