As the UK braces for new Northern Ireland parcel rules, costs are already rising and volumes falling

Feb. 13, 2025 - PRLog -- The next round of changes for shipments to Northern Ireland take effect on 31 March. The new regulations are part of the Windsor Framework and they will significantly impact B2B parcels, warns international shipping expert Parcelhero. UK businesses trading with Northern Ireland (NI) are already reporting rising transport costs and falling volumes.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal that just 13.1% of currently trading manufacturers based in Great Britain said they had sent goods to NI over the past 12 months, whereas 81.9% said they had not. That contrasts with figures for January 2021 when 20.1% of manufacturers said they had sent goods to NI in the previous year.

These results are just the tip of the iceberg, fears Parcelhero's Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks, a Member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. Says David: 'The ONS' latest Business Insights and Conditions Survey reveals a tale of woe for businesses attempting to ship between GB and Northern Ireland post-Brexit. The figures reveal 32.7% of Northern Ireland-based businesses reported challenges related to the NI Protocol agreement, with 9.6% saying differences in rules and regulations were a major cause of these issues. Of businesses based in England and trading with NI, 11.3% reported significant challenges around the Protocol agreements.

'The knock-on effects of increased red tape and delays mean a whopping 28% of NI-based companies said transport costs have become a challenge and 13.3% of companies based in England also reported significant concerns about the cost of shipments to NI.

'Ultimately, all this upheaval means that 25.9% of transport & storage sector companies have seen their volumes to NI decrease in December compared to the previous month. Remember, all these figures come before the latest round of regulations bite. Parcel carriers are expected to become UK Internal Market Scheme "trusted traders" to facilitate the new regime and B2B movement of parcels between NI and GB will move in line with the same processes that are currently in place for freight. Parcel companies must join this scheme and ensure they gather the correct data and that it is integrated with HMRC.

'It's no wonder that some major carriers have announced that they will now only provide a B2C/C2C service to NI and will not cover B2B movements. Carriers are warning that they may not be able to move parcels into Northern Ireland if the data requirements haven't been met by their customers.

'Different regulations and charges are in place for shipments to the Republic of Ireland. For more information and for live pricing for courier services to both the ROI and NI, see: https://www.parcelhero.com/en-gb/international-courier-services/ireland-parcel-delivery