NI Protocol: No deadlines in talks, says Chris Heaton-Harris

Chris Heaton-Harris says deadlines are "one sure fire way" to cause talks to break down

Deadlines are not being set between the UK and EU on NI Protocol talks, Chris Heaton-Harris has said.

The secretary of state was speaking during his first trip to the US where he has been discussing trade opportunities.

Mr Heaton-Harris has also been involved in the recent negotiations between London and Brussels.

Deadlines were "proven to be one sure-fire way" to cause talks to break down, he told BBC News NI.

The Northern Ireland secretary also refused to comment on the current state of play in the discussions and said that "equally has the potential to unravel them".

Mr Heaton-Harris was asked about the prospect of a deal being reached before the upcoming Good Friday Agreement 25th anniversary in April, and if President Biden would make a visit to Northern Ireland.

He said: "Everyone knows the rumours of a potential visit but there's been no confirmation of that."

What is the Northern Ireland Protocol?

The protocol is a part of the UK-EU Brexit deal that keeps Northern Ireland aligned with some EU trade rules.

It keeps Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods, avoiding the need for a hard border with the Irish Republic after Brexit.

However, it also creates a new trade border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, something the EU accepts is causing difficulties for many businesses.

Some unionists say it is also undermining Northern Ireland's place in the UK.

The UK says the protocol is not working and plans to override most of the agreement if the EU does not agree to changes.

In protest against the protocol, Paul Givan of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) resigned as Northern Ireland's first minister in February 2022, collapsing the power-sharing agreement.

Since then, there has been no devolved government in Northern Ireland.

Under Northern Ireland's power-sharing system of government, Sinn Féin - which became the biggest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly last year - cannot nominate its first minister until the DUP puts forward a nomination for the position of deputy first minister.

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One of the changes the UK has proposed is a green lane/red lane system for goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain, with trusted traders using a green lane for goods destined only for Northern Ireland.

The EU has accepted that goods that are staying in Northern Ireland should be subject to a lighter touch.

The UK said it had built a system which can do this by drawing together five different databases which deal with things like customs declarations, safety and security declarations and ferry manifests.

The system was demonstrated to EU officials last summer and has been working in pilot form in recent months.

The EU's acceptance that the system works is significant, but it does not mean that a fresh agreement on the movement of goods is inevitable.

A previous stumbling block has been how much information companies need to provide when shipping goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, which can be a bigger problem than physical checks.

During the Christmas period, the UK said it would soon bring forward legislation which would lead to the building of new facilities at Northern Ireland's ports to enforce the protocol.

The government said this would be necessary for red lane checks but the lack of proper border controls posts at the ports has long been an EU bugbear.