Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how they have discharged their legal duty in section 46(1) of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 in respect of the implementation of the European Union's new General Product Safety Regulation.

This Government is absolutely committed to ensuring the smooth flow of goods across the UK Internal market. The General Product Safety Regulations largely formalise the reality of how businesses are already operating in the UK so the government expects consumers in Northern Ireland generally to be able to access goods as before.

On 3 December, the Department for Business and Trade’s Office for Product Safety and Standards published guidance for businesses on the application of the Regulation in Northern Ireland, which makes clear that authorities will continue to take a proportionate, risk-based, and intelligence-led approach to regulating the NI market, prioritising unsafe products.

DBT will continue to engage businesses directly to ensure they are familiar with the guidance and that the Government is supporting them to trade freely across the whole of the UK.