Less than 1 in 5 Northern Ireland firms are ready for Brexit changes

• Less than one in five Northern Irish companies is ready for the end of the Brexit transition period.
• Less than 20% said they were ready for January 1st, with a lack of key information from the UK government of Boris Johnson being the main reason why.
• The poll is the latest to paint an alarming picture of the UK’s readiness to break away from the EU.
• Prime Minister Johnson is under pressure to postpone the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol to give businesses more time to prepare.
• Your government is expected to make a major announcement on the protocol next week.
• Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.

Less than 20% of businesses in Northern Ireland feel ready for the Brexit transition period to end in less than four weeks, according to a tough new survey, as Boris Johnson’s UK government is under increasing pressure to postpone introducing a host of new trade controls across the Irish Sea.

According to the results of a mass survey conducted by Northern Ireland Business Brexit, fewer than one in five companies in Northern Ireland across a range of industries, including retail, food and beverage and manufacturing, feel ready for new Brexit agreements that will come into effect on January 1st. Working Group (NIBBWG), released Saturday.

The more than 250 companies that took part in the survey said that a lack of information from the UK government on how Northern Ireland’s trade with the rest of the UK would work from next year was the main reason they would not be be ready on time. They also cited the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their ability to prepare for Brexit.

The figures are the latest to paint an alarming picture of business preparation ahead of the cliff edge on January 1. The Brexit transition period will end in less than four weeks and the Northern Ireland Protocol will come into effect.

Under the terms of the protocol, Britain will move away from EU trade rules, while Northern Ireland will continue to follow them to avoid a hard border with the Republic of Ireland. It will result in a series of new controls and procedures for trade across the Irish Sea from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. These include customs declarations, stringent health and safety requirements for food and animal products, and new product labels.

However, within weeks of New Year’s cliff edge, Northern Ireland businesses are still awaiting key details on how these important changes will work in practice. Industry leaders in the province last month urged the EU and the UK to postpone the protocol’s implementation, warning companies won’t be ready in time.

A spokesperson for the NIBBWG on Saturday called on the UK government and the EU to agree on an implementation period for Northern Irish businesses to “ensure that trade can continue uninterrupted in the short term”.

Business leaders like NIBBWG have been warning Johnson’s government for months that major retailers and supermarkets would stop serving Northern Ireland if they didn’t clarify how Brexit would impact trade across the Irish Sea. .

On Thursday, the UK Food and Drink Federation released a new survey showing that 40% of UK food and drink companies plan to reduce supplies to the province or stop them altogether, due to the lack of clarity on how to deliver. get the goods from Great Britain. work.

Business Insider reported in the summer that major companies were considering withdrawing from Northern Ireland due to the costs and uncertainty of Brexit, including a well-known supermarket. Dominic Goudie, head of international trade at the Food and Drink Federation, said some of the companies that responded to the survey “would be familiar to the shoppers.”

Business leaders are expecting a major government announcement on Brexit

Dan Kitwood – POOL / Getty Images

Also on Thursday, Connall Donnelly of the Association of Northern Ireland Meat Exporters wrote to Michael Gove, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, warning that “due to a government’s lack of timely clarity on a whole range of issues and regardless of the outcome of the FTA negotiations, the NI meat industry may not be ready “by January 1.

In his letter, Donnelly called on the UK government to agree with the EU on the 12-month phased introduction of the Northern Ireland Protocol, citing a “number of key issues that remain unresolved or for which existing guidance (proposal) is not feasible “. Northern Ireland’s meat industry needs more time to adapt to government IT systems under development, Donnelly said, and is waiting for financial support to handle new and costly paperwork for animal products, notes such as Export Health Certificates.

Most of the details on how the Northern Ireland Protocol will work were discussed by UK and EU officials during joint committee talks. Gove, the UK’s top official in the Joint Committee negotiations, recently said he hoped the committee would be able to “provide some degree of certainty” in early December.

Prime Minister Johnson’s government is expected to make an announcement on the Northern Ireland Protocol early next week amid speculations that the UK and the EU may agree to delay implementation to give affected businesses more time to getting ready. Several business leaders told Business Insider on Friday that they expected an announcement no later than Tuesday.

Asked Friday about a potential announcement next week, Prime Minister Johnson’s spokesman said, “The Joint Committee process is underway and we will update it in due course.”