New Irish Sea border rules for parcels come into effect

New rules for businesses in Britain posting parcels to Northern Ireland have come into effect.

The changes are a consequence of Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit deal known as the Windsor Framework.

The major change is for business-to-business parcels which now require customs declarations.

Parcel companies need to be signed up to a trusted trader scheme but individuals posting and receiving parcels should not notice any significant changes.

In its guidance Royal Mail says that for consumer-to-consumer parcels, which includes things like birthday presents, customers in GB will need to provide a description of the goods, their weight and value.

In practice this information was already often asked for when posting parcels.

Businesses in GB sending goods to businesses in Northern Ireland are advised to register with the UK Internal Market Scheme (UKIMS) which will allow them to use a simplified customs process.

In its guidance Royal Mail says: “Where UKIMS registration is not presented with the parcel data, the sending customer may be liable to delays, customs charges or the parcel returned to the sender.”

The changes were originally supposed to happen last year but were delayed after businesses said they needed more time to prepare.

In March the government published new guidance in response to business concerns.

It confirmed that “click and collect”, where consumers place orders for goods to be sent to a business address in Northern Ireland for collection, will not need customs declaration.

It said: “These can be treated as business-to-consumer parcels even when they are sent to a business address.”

It also confirmed there are no new requirements for letters, postcards or other correspondence sent to Northern Ireland from Great Britain.

Parcels have been one of the most difficult post-Brexit trading issues for the UK government to resolve.

After Brexit, Northern Ireland effectively remained in the EU’s single market for goods.

That meant new checks and controls have been applied to goods being sent from Great Britain to Northern Ireland – which some have described as the Irish Sea border.

This was originally governed by a UK-EU deal known as the Northern Ireland Protocol.

It was revised in 2023 and became the Windsor Framework.

Under the original deal most parcels going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland would have required customs declarations: that was never implemented as businesses and the UK government said it would be unworkable.

The Windsor Framework aims to radically simplify the original proposal while also including measures which give the EU assurance that goods will not illicitly enter its market.