UK retailers have called for further clarity on future trading across the Irish border, as Britain and the European Union (EU) agree on a Brexit transition deal.
In a breakthrough agreement yesterday (19 March), Brexit Secretary David Davis and the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier, resolved a number of sticking points to allow for a transition deal to be signed later this week.
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Key aspects of the agreement include a transition period of nearly two years from Brexit day on 29 March 2019; the ability for the UK to negotiate, sign and ratify its own trade deals during this period; and that the UK will remain party to existing EU trade deals with other countries.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), welcomed the agreed points: “This transition agreement allows retailers to continue to provide consumers with a wide choice of products at competitive prices because it secures tariff-free trade between the EU and the UK.
“It is the same result the retail industry needs for the final deal when the transition period ends.”
Issues still to be resolved, however, include the Northern Ireland border. Britain agreed that the withdrawal agreement should contain a “backstop option” to prevent a hard border in Northern Ireland if an acceptable compromise cannot be reached.
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By GlobalDataThis means Northern Ireland will effectively stay in parts of the single market and the customs union in the absence of another solution to avoid such a border.
Dickinson said any hard Irish border would be very bad news for retailers and the consumers they serve.
“Retailers and consumers need the free flow of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to continue even after the transition expires to prevent delays on the movement of goods across the border, which would impact on product availability for shoppers. We need to see this issue addressed properly in the next stage of negotiations.”
