Dear Lord Frost and Dear Commissioner Maros Sefcovic,
As an Export Documentation Officer in a UK based Chamber of Commerce, and formerly an international trader and freight forwarder, I am concerned at the current stalemate in negotiations over the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol and the rising political tension.
I wish to assure you both that a paperless trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland under the Northern Ireland protocol is still possible.
Currently the UK government is determined to allow trade without border controls between Great Britain and Northern Ireland in order to ensure the territorial integrity of the United Kingdom.
The European Union is equally determined to preserve the integrity of the European Union single market and it will not to allow the anomalous status of Northern Ireland, as being part of both the UK and the EU single market, to be an excuse for large scale fraud and smuggling by ruthless international traders which could turn Northern Ireland in to a state dominated by criminal activities.
Both the EU and the UK are concerned to retain the Good Friday Agreement both in legal terms and in spirit and do not wish to see community feelings in Northern Ireland inflamed by current disagreements over the Northern Ireland protocol or by the manifestation of a hard border and custom posts in Northern Ireland.
As the UK government remains reluctant to align the UK economy, and particularly its agricultural sector, with that of the European Union, the only solution which could eventually guarantee the paperless movement of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, but keeping to the terms of the NI protocol, would be by utilizing End User Certificates for Northern Ireland consignees. The principle is similar to the one used in the arms trade or in the despatch of proscribed chemicals and medicines. It would certainly be more reliable than the "trusted traders" or "honesty boxes", proposed by the UK government, and therefore more likely to be acceptable to the EU.
It would be based on five principles:
1/ All consignees in Northern Ireland for goods over 250 pounds in value, should register with a Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce, or equivalent body, approved by the Joint Committee of the EU and the UK. This body would issue each Northern Ireland consignee, which had registered, with an End User Certificate, reissued every year, covering all named goods imported from Great Britain suppliers. This would only be issued to the NI consignee following the receipt of appropriate guarantees from that company, countersigned by their bank. This End User Certificate will state that the goods listed in the certificate are to be consumed or utilized only in Northern Ireland and would not be re-exported to the Republic of Ireland or any other part of the European Union and it would be certified by the relevant issuing body. It could apply to goods being imported over a year or just cover a specific shipment. The list of goods should not just be generic but should include brand names as well, to ensure easy identification of the product.
2/ All consignors from Great Britain to Northern Ireland would dispatch their high value goods, whether by post, courier, air or sea, on a DDP basis (duty paid and delivered). If the goods are covered by an End User Certificate received from the consignee for that particular shipment, then no further paperwork is required. If there is no End User Certificate then the consignor takes responsibility for all paperwork, such as airwaybills, health or phytosanitary certificates, which would be handled by a customs office on the Great Britain mainland. There would be no customs offices in Northern Ireland as all documentation would be dealt with by the Great Britain consignor. If the goods being shipped to Northern Ireland, through the UK, originate from a third country, then a UK agent, such as a forwarding agent, can be appointed to handle any relevant documentation in Great Britain, and can identify the relevant End User Certificate if one has been issued.
3/ Any shipments despatched by post as personal property, and/or which are less than 250 pounds sterling in value, would require no paperwork. There could also be agreed exceptions, such as the aforementioned guide dogs, or temporary shipments (such as sample goods, or musical instruments for a concert, or sports equipment for a named sports event).
4. If any Northern Ireland consignee consistently abused this system and re-exported the goods to the European Union proper, they could pay a fine and/or lose their right to have an End User Certificate. Where goods, sent to a N. Ireland supermarket end user, are subsequently purchased as a retail purchase by individual residents of the Republic of Ireland, this would not be considered a breach of the use of this certificate.
5. Currently, the UK government has declared that it wished to have no documentary control over goods being shipped between Northern Ireland and the Great Britain mainland. This implies that currently they are not seeking reciprocal control over the shipment of goods from Northern Ireland into Great Britain. However, if there was concern in the future over protecting the UK market from fraudulent trade, the End User Certificate system of registration could later be modified to certify a Northern Ireland consignor as a "bona fide" original Northern Ireland producer.
Although the beginning of the process of registering Northern Ireland importers to make them eligible for an End User certificate may seem bureaucratic, and would require several months of preparation, the advantage afterwards of paperless movement between Great Britain and Northern Ireland would satisfy the main issues raised by the Northern Ireland Protocol, because:
1/ Northern Ireland would be recognized by the EU as integral to the United Kingdom in accordance with Article 6 of the NI Protocol
2/ The integrity of the EU single market is respected in accordance with Article 5 of the NI Protocol
3/ The spirit of the Good Friday Agreement would be preserved as there would be no shipping documentation processed in Northern Ireland and so no provocative customs office to cause unrest among the loyalist community in accordance with Article 1.1 of the NI Protocol
4/ Economically, Northern Ireland would then become a genuine net beneficiary of being both in the United Kingdom and the European Union.
This is the basic outline of the proposal to maintain a paperless trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland which would not conflict with the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol. For the sake of peace it should be considered seriously and implemented as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely,
Wiktor Moszczynski
