Windsor Framework is an improvement on the protocol, but problems persist, say the Lords

The Windsor Framework improves the Northern Ireland Protocol but does not solve all its problems, a House of Lords inquiry has concluded.

It amends the NI Protocol, the 2019 agreement that kept NI within the EU single market for goods.

Some of its main operational aspects will be implemented from October.

They include the expansion of a trusted trader scheme and a system of green lanes and red lanes to manage the flow of goods in Northern Ireland ports.

The green lane/red lane system is supposed to cut red tape for British goods whose final destination is Northern Ireland.

It will operate in conjunction with new labeling requirements for some food products entering Northern Ireland from the UK.

The Lords NI Protocol subcommittee, which carried out the research, warned that some companies, particularly non-retailers, will find the framework’s processes “more burdensome” compared to the protocol’s grace periods.

Grace periods refer to temporary fixes where the protocol was not being fully implemented in some aspects.

Lord Jay de Ewelme, chair of the committee, said: “The Windsor Framework is a clear improvement on the original protocol. But it does not solve all the problems that the protocol raises.

“Benefits for businesses include easier movement of goods from Britain to Northern Ireland via the green lane.

“For some companies, however, the processes will be more onerous under the Windsor Framework than under the protocol as it currently operates.

“And where there is uncertainty, the red lane, with its more complex procedures, may have to be used.”

The report says that the framework brings significant improvements in areas such as medicines, pet travel, and retail products.

But one of the big issues raised by the query is the treatment of “groupage” freight and mixed loads.

Groupage is when goods shipped by several different companies are grouped together in the same cargo truck.

The concern is that if just one pallet contains goods heading to the Republic of Ireland, then all the cargo will need to be processed through the red lane, which will entail red tape and costs.

Sarah Hards, sales director at AM Logistics, told the query that groupage was forgotten in the original NI Protocol “and hasn’t really been remembered for this one.”

The committee has asked the government to clarify how the framework’s provisions on groupage and mixed cargo movement will affect it, and what steps are being taken to address the concerns of affected businesses.

The inquiry also heard that regulatory divergence between the GB and the EU, and therefore between the GB and Northern Ireland, remains the “number one concern” for businesses.

Regulatory divergence refers to the process by which new laws, whether in the EU or GB, will, over time, lead to increasing differences in the rules faced by businesses in each of those jurisdictions.

The committee said there was “an underlying fear” that Northern Ireland would find itself in a “no man’s land” between Britain and the EU, jeopardizing the competitiveness of Northern Ireland businesses and their complex supply chains.

He welcomed the establishment of bodies to monitor such divergence, but says it remains to be seen how effective they will be in practice.

The committee also reiterated a call for the UK government to create and maintain an up-to-date register of regulatory divergence and its impact on Northern Ireland.

Civil servants have been in charge of Northern Ireland departments since the Stormont executive collapsed 16 months ago, when the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) withdrew as part of its boycott of post-Brexit trade deals.

The DUP’s Lord Dodds, who sits on the committee, says the report makes it clear that the framework fails all seven of that party’s tests for post-Brexit trade deals.

He said the framework “depicts the encrusting of the Irish Sea border to a greater extent than anything we’ve seen so far.”

“The events in Westminster last week, where the government sacked five of its own MPs from a committee to force across the new border to send parcels to Northern Ireland, illustrates the reality of what it is doing in the face of the spin it is trying to sell,” he said.

The delivery of the framework and the restoration of relations between the EU and the United Kingdom has been perhaps the most tangible result of Rishi Sunak’s tenure.

So it came as no surprise that he came to Northern Ireland to sell it off, saying it would make Northern Ireland “the most exciting economic area in the world.”

The Lords’ report is a somewhat more sober analysis, noting that problems remain.

But as long as UK policy remains a hard Brexit and a completely soft Irish border, some trade friction in GB-NI trade will be inevitable.