Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that customs controls do not disproportionately affect small and medium-sized businesses trading between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The Government is committed to ensuring smooth trade flows within the UK internal market.

The UK Internal Market Scheme (UKIMS) replaced the previous UK Trader Scheme on 30 September 2023. UKIMS allows a much wider range of businesses to move goods into Northern Ireland under the existing ‘not at risk’ arrangements than the previous scheme, with over 3,000 new businesses now authorised.

Under UKIMS, the turnover threshold below which companies involved in processing can move eligible goods under the scheme quadrupled from the old £500,000 limit up to £2m, benefiting SMEs. From 30 September 2024, UKIMS traders will also be able to benefit from the new simplified processes for UK internal market movements which will scrap burdensome supplementary declarations and allow for the use of a simpler dataset based on standard commercial information as opposed to full customs declarations as is required currently.

There is tailored support available for all sizes of businesses trading between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, including small and medium-sized businesses, via the free-to-use Trader Support Service (TSS).