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LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - British supermarket group
Sainsbury's is urging the government to simplify border
requirements between Great Britain and Northern Ireland as there
is still "a lot of uncertainty", its boss said on Wednesday.
Britain is no longer part of the European Union's single
market and customs union, but Northern Ireland has a foot in
both camps as part of the United Kingdom's customs territory,
while still aligned with the EU's single market for goods.
Last month the EU launched legal action against Britain for
unilaterally changing trading arrangements for Northern Ireland
that Brussels says are in breach of the Brexit divorce deal
agreed with London last year.
Britain has denied that the move undermines the part of the
Brexit deal that governs trade to the British province, saying
it extended a grace period for checks on goods moving to
Northern Ireland to ease their passage.
"There's a lot of uncertainty still to work through,"
Sainsbury's CEO Simon Roberts told reporters after the group
reported full year results.
"We continue to urge the government to find solutions that
do simplify the border requirements so that we can move goods
for customers, optimise availability and keep the cost and
complexity as contained as possible," he said.
Since leaving the EU's single market at the end of last
year, supermarkets in Northern Ireland have seen shortages of
some food products.
Sainsbury's operates 13 supermarkets in Northern Ireland and
has been using a local partner to source some of the products it
was struggling to import.
Roberts said he was encouraged by the British government's
move to extend easements.
"That gives the industry time to work through some of the
challenges, particularly on the complexity and the process to
move goods Great Britain to Northern Ireland," he said.
(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Barbara Lewis)
