UK supermarkets call for "urgent intervention" to ensure supplies to Northern Ireland

LONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Britain's major supermarkets have
warned the government that "urgent intervention" is required to
prevent significant disruption to Northern Ireland food supplies
in coming months.

Britain is no longer part of the European Union's single
market and customs union, but the British-run region of Northern
Ireland has a foot in both camps – part of the UK's customs
territory but also still aligned with the EU's single market for
goods.

Despite a three-month grace period on some new rules, some
supermarket shelves in Northern Ireland have been empty since
the turn of the year as firms struggle to import fresh goods
from Britain.

The bosses of supermarket groups including Tesco,
Sainsbury's, Asda and Marks & Spencer,
have written to Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove to raise
the issue.

In the letter, seen by Reuters, they note that the current
grace period for simplified controls on sending food to Northern
Ireland ends on March 31 and said it was essential a long-term
solution is agreed with the EU before that.

"All our businesses and suppliers have invested
significantly in the last few months to avoid disruption but
that will become inevitable if the proposals governing movement
of food from Great Britain to Northern Ireland are adopted," it
said.

"We recognise the European Commission needs to see increased
compliance to support the concessions it granted through the
Northern Ireland protocol but the current proposals, increased
bureaucracy and certification in such a short timescale, are
unworkable."

The supermarket CEOs called on Gove to create a dedicated
working group to co-ordinate government agencies to integrate
customs and food controls.

And they want the government to agree with the EU that more
time is required to implement a new system.

"We accept that clear progress needs to be made by (April
1)... However, until then, we need an assurance that the current
process based on a trusted trader scheme ... doesn't change
until a workable replacement is agreed," the letter said.

(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Nick Macfie)