Businesses still struggling with sea border, Stormont reports find

The operation of Northern Ireland’s Brexit deal is still characterised by confusion, duplication and accumulating regulatory burdens on businesses, two reports have found.

The studies, external were commissioned by Stormont’s Department for the Economy, and look at the practical impacts of the Windsor Framework, the deal agreed by the UK and EU in 2023.

The framework was intended to reduce the impact of the Irish Sea border.

A government spokesperson said the framework “protects the Good Friday Agreement”.

After Brexit Northern Ireland stayed inside the EU’s single market for goods as a way to prevent a hard border with the Republic of Ireland.

That created a new trade border for goods coming into NI from other parts of the UK, with customs declarations and other paperwork required.

The report from the economist Maureen O’Reilly concludes that the framework has brought greater stability but that “has not yet translated into simplicity. “

She said: “Businesses describe a trading environment that is more predictable than before but still marked by cumulative regulatory and compliance demands.

“Supply-chain pressures remain among the most significant constraints.

“GB suppliers continue to raise minimum orders, add administrative surcharges or withdraw from supplying Northern Ireland entirely.”

She said that has prompted many firms to shift sourcing to Ireland or the wider EU but “often at greater cost”.