SOUTH Belfast MP Claire Hanna has met with Royal Mail to raise issues around continuing post-Brexit difficulties with parcels as businesses within the constituency continue to face issues. These include EU customers being charged customs and VAT despite the fact that the North of Ireland remains in the EU single market.
“Many difficulties created by Brexit still haven’t been resolved and there is work needed to fine tune systems and procedures to ensure they are effective and efficient and do not place undue burdens on local businesses and consumers,"said the SDLP woman.
“It is important that Royal Mail review their process and ensure that they reflect the unique regulatory position of Northern Ireland, ensuring that businesses here face as little disruption as possible and are able to access the benefits of being in both the EU and the UK single markets.”
The South Belfast MP said that issues of parcels being sent from GB to NI are well known and require continuing engagement with GB businesses, as well as a political approach which she described as being about "solving problems and not just mining them for grievance".
“Goods sent to the EU from Northern Ireland are transported to EU countries via a Royal Mail GB hub at Heathrow and therefore receiving authorities in many EU countries are not differentiating between NI and GB senders,” she added.
“This has had a detrimental impact on small businesses in South Belfast who sell their products to the EU but who are finding themselves categorised as having left the single market. Local businesses have suggested simple process fixes that could get around this problem and we have asked Royal Mail to implement them, alongside their ongoing information work with overseas postal services."
