Uncertainty over border controls

Mrs Barton said: “When I questioned DAERA officials, they accepted that they do not know the outworkings of some of the key processes that will be required to manage trading regulations for goods coming from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

“Major questions remain as to how goods that come from the EU, including the Republic of Ireland through Northern Ireland, will be checked and monitored before forward movement into Great Britain.

“We understand there is unfettered access for goods going from Northern Ireland into Great Britain, therefore on a practical basis many goods could move from the EU into Great Britain, without any checks by using Northern Ireland as a conduit.

“There is no indication yet as to how import checks if any will take place between NI and GB, indeed Department officials have accepted that they don’t know how this process will be managed, but it appears there may be a level of checks for goods going out of NI to GB. There is potential for huge damage to our agricultural industry if there are border posts between NI and our largest trading partner, GB.

“There is also the second part of the export/import process with goods coming from GB into NI going through regulatory checks and administration, however this could become complex if there are some items that are going to remain in NI, but some of it will forward on to the Republic of Ireland or other parts of the EU.

“NI agriculture relies on significant export of its products to the UK mainland and in the opposite direction the local farming community depends on large quantities of goods coming from GB.”