A million customs declarations on goods into Northern Ireland that are not needed

It is reported that in 2021 the Northern Ireland protocol forced over 10,000 firms to supply one million customs declarations to move goods from Great Britain into the province.

None of those declarations related to the flow of goods which could actually pose a risk to the EU single market, the exports across the open land border into the Irish Republic.

As repeatedly pointed out, any significant threat to the integrity of the EU single market could easily have been countered by a UK system of export controls over those goods.

Googling for “SPIRE export licences” will bring up information about the existing system already run by the Department for International Trade, which could easily be adapted.

Dr DR Cooper, Maidenhead, Berkshire