Brexit: DPD Ireland and Parcel Motel temporarily suspend some services

There will be some disruption to parcel delivery in NI as two companies suspend services due to Brexit.

DPD Ireland will be temporarily suspending its collection service from Great Britain into NI and the Republic of Ireland from 23 December.

The company said it would only affect a small part of their business and not parcels travelling from NI to GB.

Parcels to the EU will be routed directly "avoiding congestion we are already seeing at Dover and Calais".

Parcel Motel, which uses a "virtual address" in County Antrim allowing shoppers in the Republic of Ireland to avoid added costs through international shipping restrictions, is suspending that service.

RTÉ reported the company was taking the decision because the UK is leaving the single market and customs union.

In a statement it said: "As of 31 December, our virtual address services in the UK will be temporarily suspended, until such time as a final Brexit decision has been implemented and our services have been adapted to meet the new requirements.

"As a result, all parcels crossing the new border between Britain and Ireland will be subject to customs formalities affecting the cost and transit time of your shipment."

Parcel Motel said it was working on a new offering to meet post-Brexit requirements and will consider the reintroduction of the service.

The company is also suspending its service which allowed customers to send and return parcels to the UK on 31 December.

DPD Ireland has also suspended its virtual address service "until a solution is developed to manage the customs controls".

Formal agreement

The UK and European Union had previously announced formal agreement on how the new Irish Sea border will operate in January.

Separate negotiations to reach a post-Brexit trade deal are still taking place.

A special deal for Northern Ireland, known as the protocol, formed part of the Withdrawal Agreement which took the UK out of the EU earlier this year.

The protocol will keep Northern Ireland in the EU single market for goods even as the rest of the UK leaves it at the end of this month.

The two sides had been negotiating on how the protocol should be implemented.