European Union to cancel checks on British goods

The European Union said its new plan for Northern Ireland will cut customs paperwork by 50% and mean most food products will not need to be checked when arriving from Great Britain.

Northern Ireland has a special Brexit deal which keeps it in the EU’s single market for goods and allows free flowing trade with the EU.

Goods arriving from Britain face checks and controls. The UK says this imposes too many barriers.
At the start of 2021, the new post-Brexit arrangement – known as the Northern Ireland Protocol – was introduced to help prevent checks along the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

It involves keeping Northern Ireland in the EU’s single market for goods – but this, in turn, creates a new trade border with Great Britain. Unionists say this undermines their place in the UK.