The UK has declared its intention to modify the Protocol by creating “green” lanes for goods that stay in Northern Ireland and “red” lanes for goods that go to the EU.

This might seem like a reasonable solution, but the UK has not explained how it would work in practice. There are many potential problems and challenges with this approach, such as:

– How to verify the destination of the goods
– How to handle mixed loads that contain both NI and ROI goods
– How to prevent goods from moving freely between NI and ROI

These are issues that the EU would need to be satisfied with. The traceability of the supply chains would be very hard (or even impossible) to achieve.

If the UK can provide clear answers to these questions, then there might be a chance for a compromise on the Protocol. But if the UK goes ahead with the changes without the EU’s consent, then the EU might retaliate with trade barriers or tariffs on UK goods. This could escalate into a trade conflict, which would harm both sides. We hope that the details are not as problematic as they seem.

For now, we have to follow the existing rules until the new legislation is announced and the details are revealed. When that happens, the Swiftfile Team will be here to assist you with this transition.