Industry figures in the North reject British 'dual regulatory regime' concept as unworkable.
The British government is poised to press ahead with legislation that would override key parts of the Brexit divorce agreement that covers trading rules for *orthern Ireland.
The UK's Secretary of State for *orthern Ireland, Brandon Lewis, is due to brief business and industry groups in Belfast on Thursday about the proposed legislation, suggesting that London is likely to publish the controversial legislation either on Wednesday or Thursday.
In a move that will further escalate tensions with the European Union, the UK government is preparing legislation that would aim to create "a dual regulatory regime" that the British government says will remove the need for checks and paperwork on goods entering *orthern Ireland.
Last month the UK flagged its intention to introduce the legislation that would "fix" parts of the NI protocol, part of the EU-UK divorce deal, in an effort to remove the checks and reduce the administrative burden on goods moving from Britain into NI.
The aim of the proposed British legislation is to give UK government ministers powers to allow goods from Britain to circulate freely in NI, relaying on a system of surveillance on products crossing the Irish Sea into NI to prevent the requirement for checks.
The NI Protocol was agreed by the EU and UK in 2019 to avoid the return of a hard trade border and the requirement for checks at the Irish land border by imposing checks and the requirement for paperwork on goods moving from Britain at *orthern Ireland ports.
The agreement kept NI under EU rules and standards for goods, a position that would be undermined by the UK's plan to create a dual regulatory system in the North.
Asked whether she was willing to risk a potential trade war with the EU over the legislation, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Tuesday that the government wanted to create "green lanes" for goods moving into the North of Ireland and a "red lane" for goods bound for goods bound for the EU which includes the Republic of Ireland.
She said the move "would protect the EU single market at the same time as enabling goods to flow freely around the UK," describing it as a "win-win for both the people of *orthern Ireland and protecting the EU single market".
Industry sources in *orthern Ireland dismissed the legislation, if passed by the UK parliament, as unworkable, with one saying the dual regulatory regime would be "a disaster", particularly for the agrifood sector, given the amount of cross-Border dairy and meat processing on the Island of Ireland and the UK's plan to diverge from EU rules and standards over time.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said Europe would respond "in a calm and firm way" to whatever decisions were taken by Britain.
He noted that legislation would need to be enacted as well as introduced, and there would be a "journey through the UK parliament".
Taking a unilateral approach "will not work", he said at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday. "I think that would be deeply damaging because it would represent the violation of international agreements. And it really is very difficult to comprehend it... in this day and age to be contemplating that."
Having met representatives of *orthern Ireland firms, "they are very clear that increasingly the protocol is of benefit to their businesses", the Taoiseach said. Government sources in Dublin said the UK government's intention to override parts of the protocol agreed would be seen by EU member states as a breach of international law and they would refuse to engage with the UK if the legislation was passed.
One source pointed to the timing of the legislation coming days after more than 40 percent of Conservative MPs said they no longer had confidence in British prime minister Boris Johnson, suggesting that internal party politics was at play with the imminent publication of the Bill.
Government sources, acknowledging unionist concerns about the protocol, have said that the issues could be resolved with a month of intense negotiations with the EU but that the UK government had not come to the negotiating table since February.
Pippa Hackett, the super-junior minister with responsibility for biodiversity and land use, said the bill as reported was "the conservative party flexing its Brexit muscles, speaking to itself and its own base". "This is simply not going to wash," she told RTÉ's Prime Time.
Follow these links to find out more on this story and more information on the NI Protocol: When even the Attorney General flouts the law what hope does Britain have - Suella Braverman.
