Britain delays post-Brexit checks on goods from Ireland for EU talks

LONDON, Dec 15 (Reuters) – British Brexit minister David Frost said on Wednesday London would extend a grace period for introducing post-Brexit checks on goods moving from the island of Ireland to Britain beyond Jan. 1 to allow space for negotiations with the European Union.

Britain left the EU’s single market at the beginning of 2021 but has twice delayed the implementation of some post-Brexit import controls. Full customs declarations and controls are due to be required from Jan. 1.

But Britain and the EU are still locked in negotiations to try to resolve difficulties with trading arrangements for Northern Ireland, and Frost said those talks on the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol were unlikely to be “definitively concluded” by Jan. 1.

“The government has decided that the right thing is to extend, on a temporary basis, the current arrangements for moving goods from the island of Ireland to Great Britain for as long as discussions on the protocol are ongoing,” Frost said in a written statement to parliament.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper and Kylie MacLellan)

Photo – Cars and lorries depart at ferry at the Port of Dover in Dover, Britain. EPA-EFE/WILL OLIVER