Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the IT system required to reimburse tariffs paid for goods entering the EU single market under the Northern Ireland Protocol will be operational.

The UK Government will meet its obligations under the Northern Ireland Protocol, in line with the approach set out in the Command Paper published on 20 May, the UK’s Approach to the Northern Ireland Protocol. As that sets out, our focus is on ensuring that the limited additional processes required by the Protocol are implemented in a way that takes account of all available flexibilities, respects Northern Ireland’s place in the UK’s customs territory and internal market, and upholds the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement.

We committed in the UK’s Approach to the Northern Ireland Protocol to provide guidance to business, including our plans for extensive support for Northern Ireland businesses engaging in any new processes under the Protocol. We will publish that guidance during the course of this summer. We will also continue to engage with business through the Business Engagement Forum, which met for the first time on 10 June and which will play an important part in our thinking as we implement the Protocol.