Northern Ireland Protocol: Implementation Proposals Debate

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Department: Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Protocol: Implementation Proposals

Rosie Cooper Excerpts
Wednesday 18th November 2020

(3 years, 11 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Rosie Cooper Portrait Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire) (Lab) [V]
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Will the Minister confirm that the vital trader support service, desperately needed to remove the burden on businesses from custom checks, will launch only on 21 December? Does he accept that leaving seven working days is an insult to businesses whose livelihoods depend on this system working seamlessly?

Robin Walker Portrait Mr Walker
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The service is already signing businesses up, and as I said earlier, more than 7,000 businesses across Great Britain and Northern Ireland have signed up so far. We are seeing hundreds more registrations every day, so I do not recognise the point that the hon. Lady makes, but it is vital that the service is in place for the end of the transition period and the beginning of the new arrangements, and it is vital that it reaches as many businesses as it possibly can.