More Windsor Framework rules to come into force
Two more elements of the Windsor Framework will be implemented on 1 May, the government has announced.The Windsor Framework is the Brexit deal which sets trading rules between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.The new customs processes for parcels and freight were supposed to be in place last year but have been delayed due to concerns from businesses.The main change is for business-to-business parcels which will need customs declarations for the first time.
Individual consumers in Northern Ireland will not have to do anything different to receive parcels from Great Britain.However parcel companies will have to be signed up to a trusted trader scheme and provide information to HMRC.Parcels have been one of the most difficult post-Brexit trading issues for the UK government to resolve. After Brexit, Northern Ireland effectively remained in the EU's single market for goods.That meant new checks and controls have been applied to goods being sent from Great Britain to Northern Ireland - which some have described as the Irish Sea border.This was originally governed by a UK-EU deal known as the Northern Ireland Protocol.It was revised in 2023 and became the Windsor Framework.Under the original deal most parcels going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland would have required customs declarations: that was never implemented as businesses and the UK government said it would be unworkable.The Windsor Framework aims to radically simplify the original proposal while also including measures which give the EU assurance that goods will not illicitly enter its market.
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