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Businesses in Northern Ireland may have to fill out customs forms with 31 entries to send goods to the rest of the UK, trade officials there said.<\/p>\nBusinesses in Northern Ireland may have to fill out customs forms with 31 entries to send goods to the rest of the UK, trade officials there said.<\/p>\n
Many firms in the North are not ready for Brexit, government jobs creation agency Invest NI also warned.<\/p>\n
The paperwork alone could cost up to \u00a355 each time to fill out and smaller companies dealing in lesser loads will be disproportionately affected, the organisation said.<\/p>\n
Donal Durkan, in charge of strategy at Invest NI, said many firms he was working with were waiting to act until the EU withdrawal was clarified.<\/p>\n
He said that could leave too little time to act before the end of the transition period in December.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe difficulty we have is that the Northern Ireland protocol probably is not going to get resolved until June or July this year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe difficulty is the timescale, that (whether) they are going to be able to put what they need to do in place to comply.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a challenge for businesses that have not had that experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat will pose problems for our businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
It will probably be this summer before details around the Northern Ireland protocol governing trade relations with the EU after Brexit are finalized, Mr Durkan said.<\/p>\n
An EU summit of leaders is scheduled for June when a decision should be made on whether to extend the transition period during which the UK remains part of the EU\u2019s customs arrangements.<\/p>\n
Invest NI officials gave evidence to Stormont\u2019s Economy Committee today.<\/p>\n
The official jobs creation agency has provided advisory support and information workshops about Brexit to local firms, most of which have less than 50 employees.<\/p>\n
The greatest area of concern raised by local enterprises involved customs, tariffs and taxation.<\/p>\n
Mr Durkan added: \u201cMany businesses have no prior knowledge of completing customs declarations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they are selling products into the UK they are going to have to complete a customs declaration that includes 31 elements.\u201d<\/p>\n