Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) eBay and (b) other sellers based in England, Wales and Scotland turning off their seller accounts to Northern Ireland because of the costs of having to comply with the General Product Safety Regulations 2023 on (i) the supply of goods and (ii) price levels in Northern Ireland.

Our assessment of the impact of the updated GPSR remains that it largely formalises how businesses are operating in the UK and that where businesses need to make changes, in most cases, they will be adapting to continue trading with the EU. The measures are therefore likely to have limited impact in practice. We are providing guidance which we will keep under review as we continue to engage businesses – including online marketplaces – to ensure we are supporting them to trade freely across the whole of the UK.