The scope of new EU product regulations is becoming clearer, as small businesses in Great Britain demand the right to withdraw sales to Northern Ireland amid far-reaching new rules which cover goods from craft products to digital downloads.

Online sellers – who deliver to the rest of the world – have withdrawn products from the Northern Ireland and EU market entirely. One site states that “the UK now excludes Northern Ireland”.

Alison Evans – who runs Zanycraftsuk from Dungannon – says she only found out about the new rules a fortnight ago on social media, and did her own research into the matter, but thousands of businesses won’t “have a clue” about the new requirements.

She has already had problems getting products from her suppliers on the UK mainland – and says even digital downloads of knitting patterns are covered by the new sea border rules, despite not being physical objects.

placeholder image — Alison Evans runs a craft company in Dungannon which has been clobbered by the EU rules on product standards.

The rules mean that anyone selling into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK – even for digital products – would have to have a “responsible person” registered here, and complete compliance paperwork.

Alison sells some of her products via the online retailer Etsy. Other sellers who use the website want to be given the ability to block NI sales, as meeting the obligations aren’t financially viable.

On the company’s website a number of sellers in Great Britain have expressed fury at the Etsy’s policy of making goods available in Northern Ireland – as they believe it is unrealistic for them to comply with the GSPR rules. One seller said they are considering telling customers from NI not to buy from them.

Another online retailer, Folksy, has advised sellers that “the UK now excludes Northern Ireland” and “Europe has become EU & Northern Ireland”.

Alison said: “The rules are just so ambiguous. Would you believe that downloadable knitting and crochet patterns also have to follow these rules? So that means those [sellers] have got to have a responsible person over here to download a file. This is how ludicrous it is”.

She says a number of people in her industry have put their businesses on hold because they don’t want to take the risk.

Asked if businesses like hers would start to source goods from the Republic of Ireland – Alison said no. “It’s going to be twice the price we would pay from the mainland (UK). Everything is so much dearer. Even if I found a supplier over the border, I’m not going to pay that price.

“It’s not viable. And as a consumer, the choice is really slimmed down”, she said.

TUV leader Jim Allister says “there are no fudges or compromises to work around this” and the only solution is the removal of the Windsor Framework.

The GPSR applies to all types of products (physical or digital products too, including software) that are placed or made available on the EU Single Market, including Northern Ireland.

The UK government claims that “to facilitate dual access to both the UK Internal Market and EU Single Market, Northern Ireland applies certain EU product safety regulations – including GPSR”.

Yet these regulations – like others regulating the trade in goods in the province – are disrupting trade flow for both business supply chains and consumers alike.

There is a simple reason this keeps happening – Northern Ireland is in the EU single market, while the access to UK market is heavily restricted. Brussels makes rules regulating goods and Northern Ireland, almost without exception, follows them. There is no way for local politicians to influence their policies.

Jim Allister told the News Letter: “‘The GPSR provides us with an object lesson in why agreeing to be subject to laws we do not make, and cannot change, is not only wrong because it forces us into the demeaning humiliation of colonial status but also because of its far reaching and intensely practical consequences.

“If you run a small business that is dependent on supplies from our wider home economy in GB, but discover they are now withdrawing from selling to Northern Ireland because the EU’s GPSR bureaucracy, and your only alternative is significantly more expensive suppliers in the Republic, what do you do? There are no fudges or compromises to work around this as some have suggested.

“We cannot compromise with a border in the Irish Sea that divides our country into two alienating Northern Ireland from England, Wales and Scotland”.

Tina McKenzie, Policy Chair at the Federation of Small Businesses, said this week that the GPSR rules “will be a real barrier to international trade for some of our small firms looking to export to EU member states, but also move goods to Northern Ireland…… While the UK Government’s newly published guidance on the new EU rule is helpful, small firms are still faced with the complexity and associated costs around it. Governments from both sides should look at removing unnecessary trade barriers, not least those arising from the product safety rules, for small businesses in the UK-EU Trade and Cooperative Agreement review in 2026”.

Unionists slam Alliance EU law stance

Two unionist MLAs on the Stormont committee tasked with scrutinising EU law have criticised the Alliance Party for blocking proposals to scrutinise the impact of new rules which threaten Northern Ireland businesses.

New rules on product standards came into effect on Friday and are causing concern for local businesses and consumers alike.

DUP and UUP MLAs on the Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee (WFDSC) have sought numerous inquiries into Brussels regulations, which have been blocked by the Sinn Fein – Alliance majority on the body.

Ulster Unionist MLA Steve Aiken says the latest GPSR rules will significantly impact on everyday life in NI – a test for whether an inquiry is called. DUP colleague Jonathan Buckley has accused Alliance – who hold the balance of power on the committee – of being “more interested in battling for Brussels” than Northern Ireland.

Mr Aiken said that the committee, rather than “being just to pay lip service to protocol safeguards must be a proper guard for the people of NI”. He said at the moment “the only thing it does is virtue signalling and cheerleading for the EU”.

He said not even examining the impact of GPSR is an an example of a severe lack of due diligence and described the body as a “non-committee”.

His colleague, DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley said the Alliance Party’s decision to oppose the WFDSC taking time to consider the impact of the GPSR regulations on Northern Ireland “speaks volumes about how they are more interested in battling for Brussels than they are in battling for Northern Ireland”.

He said they would “impose additional red tape and regulatory burdens on traders in GB seeking to supply NI. As a result, many small and medium-sized businesses will simply opt out of trading here, reducing choice and driving up costs for consumers and businesses alike”.

The Upper Bann MLA said “the refusal to even consider the impact of these regulations is unacceptable and demonstrates a lack of understanding of the real-world impact they will have on Northern Ireland’s economy” and said his party would fight to remove EU law and the Irish Sea Border.

But Alliance MLA Eóin Tennyson has hit back. “Mr Buckley would do well to read the procedures of the Committee of which he is a member. If he had bothered to do so, he would know the Committee can only initiate an inquiry within five days of an amending EU act being published”, he said.

The Upper Bann MLA said: “This act was notified in 2023, at a time when the DUP was holding the Assembly to ransom. If he wishes to assign blame for an inquiry not being possible, I would suggest he look in the mirror.

“Mr Buckley should reflect on his decision to advocate the hardest possible Brexit with zero regard for the impact on people and businesses here. Alliance will not be distracted from seeking pragmatic solutions to ease friction in the Irish Sea created by the DUP and their partners in the Conservative Party.”