Small Businesses: Northern Ireland
The question
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Windsor Framework on SMEs in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds
The Windsor Framework established a broad set of arrangements to support businesses to move goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, including to small- and medium- sized businesses based in Northern Ireland.
On 1 May 2025, we introduced under the Windsor Framework important new arrangements for freight and parcels movements to guarantee that goods can continue to move smoothly between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, ensuring that goods sent to or from consumers will not be subject to customs declarations or duty.
As set out in our Common Understanding, the Government will take forward a new UK-EU SPS Agreement, and this will further simplify the movement of agri-food goods within the United Kingdom. As a result, we expect there will no longer be a need for SPS paperwork when moving agrifood or plant products and the requirement to label goods ‘not for EU’ will diminish significantly.
The Government works closely with industry stakeholders and trade associations on the implementation of these arrangements and will continue to do so.
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