Lord Agnew, Minister of State at the Cabinet Office and Her Majesty’s Treasury, has written to CILT to remind its members and businesses that move goods into and out of Northern Ireland to prepare for the changes that are coming at the end of the year.

He says: "We have made excellent progress in registering large businesses for the Trader Support Service. However, despite extensive marketing activity, we are concerned that micro, small, and medium sized enterprises are proving much slower to act. By delaying registering, those traders are risking serious disruption to their businesses after January." 

The Northern Ireland Protocol comes into force on 1 January 2021 when the Transition Period ends. The Northern Ireland Protocol to the Withdrawal Agreement was designed as a practical solution to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, whilst ensuring that the UK, including Northern Ireland, could leave the EU as a whole.

The UK’s approach to the Northern Ireland Protocol outlines how the protocol can be implemented in a way that would protect the interests of the people and economy of Northern Ireland, ensure the effective working of the UK’s internal market, provide appropriate protection for the EU Single Market and uphold the rights of all Northern Ireland’s citizens.

In preparation for the end of the Transition Period, the Government has launched the Trader Support Service – a free-to-use service that will help businesses and traders of all sizes to navigate the changes to the way goods move once the Northern Ireland Protocol comes into effect on 1st January 2021.

If traders do not register in good time and get ready to supply the Trader Support Service with the information it will need to make declarations on their behalf, they are likely to experience significant disruption to their business – including an inability to move goods into or out of Northern Ireland.