UK Government publishes Northern Ireland Protocol Bill

This Bill introduces changes to how businesses can operate across NI and Great Britain.

On 17 May 2022, the UK Government announced its intention to introduce legislation to amend the Northern Ireland (NI) Protocol in order to address some of the challenges businesses based or operating within NI are facing.  CTPA published this news item to summarise the Government’s intentions.

The UK Government has now published the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill. This legislation was presented before Parliament on the 13 June 2022, and has been now widely communicated alongside the UK Government’s legal position.  Please note that this legislation is not in force yet.

The UK Government’s legal position establishes a clear case in favour of the introduction and approval of the proposed Bill in international law and Article 16 of the NI Protocol which establishes a safeguard clause where the application of the Protocol leads to serious impacts.  The proposed Bill is intended to provide resolution to current challenges to the UK market.

The proposed Bill establishes the following elements:

• removing checks and paperwork on goods moving from Great Britain (GB) to NI that are destined to stay in NI with no risk of moving into the Republic of Ireland and the rest of the EU;
• creating a new dual regulatory system where companies in NI can choose to apply the EU or the UK’s regime for goods, removing regulatory checks;
• ensuring a single tax and spending regime across the UK, allowing GB VAT rates to be applied in NI where currently the EU rules apply;
• changing the governance of the Protocol under the same system as the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, removing the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU).