Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that goods entering the mainland UK from Northern Ireland will be differentiated from goods entering from the EU.

Unfettered access for Northern Ireland businesses to the rest of the UK market is a longstanding Government policy, underscored and strengthened as a result of the package of commitments in our Safeguarding the Union Command Paper. The Windsor Framework (UK Internal Market and Unfettered Access) Regulations 2024 further entrench the legislative protections for unfettered access.

We will use existing systems, using commercial information and evidence, to differentiate qualifying Northern Ireland goods. Operational measures will be in place to prevent avoidance of the rules, drawing on the anti-avoidance powers we have in law to deal with people looking to abuse the system.

We will work closely with all Devolved Administrations on arrangements for non-qualifying goods which move into Great Britain via Northern Ireland.