Written question asked by Jim Allister (Traditional Unionist Voice) on Monday, 14 July 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 17 July 2025 (named day). It was answered by James Murray (Labour) on Thursday, 17 July 2025 on behalf of the Treasury.

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UK Trade with EU: Northern Ireland

Question

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what procedures HMRC (a) has and (b) plans to put in place for validating goods from Great Britain presented on the red lane at (i) Belfast, (ii) Larne, (iii) Warrenpoint and (iv) Foyle for release into the EU Single Market; how many (A) HMRC members of staff and (B) other government employees will be employed at the four ports to discharge these procedures from August 2025; what port infrastructure (1) has been (2) is being built at (a) Belfast, (b) Larne, (c) Warrenpoint and (d) Foyle to facilitate the discharging of these procedures; what the cost to the public purse has been of the construction of that infrastructure; and whether that infrastructure is (A) completed, (B) operational and (C) under construction.

Answer

Goods moving from Great Britain to the EU via Northern Ireland will complete a full customs declaration and pay the applicable rate of duty, subject to any waivers or reliefs, as an international goods movement. These customs declarations are validated electronically by HMRC’s Customs Declaration Service (CDS).

There are no HMRC employed staff at ports in Northern Ireland, and HMRC does not have, and is not building, any port infrastructure at ports in Northern Ireland.

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Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

67749

Session

2024-26

Subjects

Staff Costs Infrastructure Northern Ireland Ports Revenue and Customs UK trade with EU

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk