Brexit: Hugo Boss and Zalando suspend NI deliveries

The issue is that, from January, commercial goods entering NI from GB will need a customs declaration

Some online retailers are suspending delivery to Northern Ireland.

The move is to give them time to adapt their systems to the new Irish Sea border, which begins operating in January.

Zalando, a clothes retailer, stopped delivering on Friday. It said this was "in preparation for new requirements from our carrier partner in the region."

Fashion brand Hugo Boss said delivery to NI would be temporarily unavailable

It said this was "due to system upgrades" and there would be no deliveries from 23 December until 7 February.

The issue facing companies is that, from January, commercial goods entering NI from GB will need a customs declaration.

In theory, that means every parcel will need its own declaration though the government is working with delivery firms to find a way to minimise the impact of these changes.

On Monday the furniture and homeware firm made.com told customers it would no longer be shipping to Northern Ireland.

It said it had been "working hard" to find a way to continue deliveries but had been unable find a solution.

Last week, Amazon warned Northern Ireland customers they could face delays and unavailability of some products when the Irish Sea border starts operating.

Retailers want time to adapt their systems to the new Irish Sea border which begins operating in January

The delivery firm, DPD Ireland, says it will be temporarily suspending its collection service from Great Britain into Northern Ireland 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 Northern Ireland to Great Britain.

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

Another firm, 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 also suspending that service.

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.

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"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.

Online plant retailers face particular difficulties from the sea border as they face new certification requirements for their products as well as customs declarations.

Last week Sienna Hosta, a specialist plant nursery in Surrey, told customers it would no longer sell to Northern Ireland by mail order.

On Twitter it said this was because: "New rules would mean Northern Ireland is essentially treated as an EU country so would require the same plant health checks etc., which for large orders are possible but small orders make it too expensive. We wish this wasn't the case."

Formal Agreement

The UK and European Union had previously announced a formal agreement on how the new Irish Sea border would 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.