Northern Ireland Protocol

Context: The United Kingdom Supreme Court recently ruled that the Northern Ireland Protocol, which is a post-Brexit agreement that created a trade border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, is lawful.

About the Protocol:

• Northern Ireland (part of the UK) shared a land border with the Republic of Ireland (an EU member).
• EU and UK have different product standards, checks are necessary for goods to move from Northern Ireland to Ireland.
• The Northern Ireland Protocol is a post-BREXIT agreement that created a trade border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
• The protocol was an integral part of the 2019 BREXIT agreement signed between the UK and the EU.
• Under the protocol,
• Northern Ireland remains in the EU single market, and
• Trade-and-customs inspections of goods coming from Great Britain take place at Northern Ireland ports along the Irish Sea.

Plan of UK:

• The UK government has proposed the creation of a ‘green lane’ and a ‘red lane’ for checking.
• The ‘green lane’ would have fewer checks and customs controls only for goods going to Northern Ireland.
• The ‘red lane’ would have a more stringent checks and for goods going on to the Republic of Ireland and the rest of the EU.
• In January 2023, both EU and UK signing a deal on sharing data regarding trade between them.
• The Good Friday Agreement, also known as the Belfast Agreement, was a political deal designed to bring an end to the 30 years ‘Troubles’ in the Northern Ireland.

Source:  Indian Express

Previous Year Questions

Q.1) In which one of the following groups are all the four countries members of G20? (2020)

1. Argentina Mexico, South Africa and Turkey
2. Australia Canada, Malaysia and New Zealand
3. Brazil, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam
4. Indonesia Japan Singapore and South Korea

Q.2) Consider the following pairs:

International agreement/ set-up Subject

1. Alma-Ata Declaration – Healthcare of the people
2. Hague Convention – Biological and Chemical Weapons
3. Talanoa Dialogue – Global Climate Change
4. Under2 Coalition – Child Rights

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched? (2020)

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 4 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 2,3 and 4 only