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Britain-based companies are warning Northern Ireland companies that they will stop supplying them with goods after the UK leaves the EU on January 1, it has been discovered.
The British government will impose customs controls between Northern Ireland and Great Britain after the end of the Brexit transition period early next month, while the border between the North and the Republic will remain open.
The move has prompted some UK-based companies to tell their business customers in the North that they will no longer supply them or ask them to cover the shipping costs themselves.
All commercial goods shipped north from Britain will require customs declarations from January 1 under the new regime, although the UK government has said it will look for ways to minimize this.
British suppliers tell customers in Northern Ireland that they fear post-Brexit changes will increase shipping costs and possibly add import duties on goods they ship to the region.
The owner of a northern-based commercial builders business confirmed that several British suppliers had contacted him in recent weeks to say that they would no longer supply customers in the north or that they would ask his company to bear the costs. shipping.
An email to the company shows that a supplier based in England is unwilling to fulfill an order worth £ 30,000 (€ 33,000).
In another, a British company says customers in Northern Ireland will have to bear “all transport costs and import duties”.
The company says it will ship the products once it receives confirmation that the costs will be covered. The supplier also offers to arrange for the customer’s own couriers to collect the merchandise.
Operating without borders
The businessman, who asked not to be named, pointed out that most providers have been operating without borders. “It is something completely new for them,” he added. “There has not been a border for 15 years or more.”
The “Irish Sea” border between the north and Britain was a compromise designed by the British government to allow Northern Ireland to remain in the EU single market after the UK left the bloc on January 1. This will allow goods to move freely between the North and the Republic.
It will mean customs checks on goods coming north from Great Britain and additional paperwork for those shipping the goods.
He suggested that some British companies had decided that Brexit meant that it was not worth doing business in the North further, as it is a relatively small market, with a population of around 1.5 million.
He predicted that the problem could leave his business without the products that customers needed, or force the company to buy the same products from the Republic at a higher price.
The businessman explained that obtaining replacement supplies from the Republic was more expensive as his company had to deal with agents, whereas in Britain he bought directly from the manufacturer.
On Tuesday, Northern Ireland’s chief veterinarian, Dr Robert Huey, said that around 40 trucks a day carrying food and agricultural products from Britain will be subject to checks by Department of Agriculture staff.
His announcement came days after online fashion chains Hugo Boss and Zalando said they would suspend deliveries to the North until February to allow them to conform to post-Brexit rules. They both pledged to work to restore deliveries to the north.
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