Food Supplies at Risk as Brexit Border Issues Hit Northern Ireland

Food Supplies at Risk as Brexit Border Issues Hit Northern Ireland

Two weeks after New Year celebrations from government that marked the end of the Brexit transition period, bosses of the U.K.'s largest supermarkets are warning of "significant disruption" to food supplies in the coming months because of post-Brexit border arrangements on the island of Ireland.Already, some products are running short in Northern Ireland as shops come up against new post-Brexit rules for importing food products from Great Britain across the Irish Sea. The chief executives of Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Iceland, Co-Op and Marks & Spencer have written to Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove warning that "urgent intervention" is needed to prevent supermarkets running out of food. They said that if further new certification requirements are introduced in April the system will become "unworkable".Since December 31, as part of the Brexit deal, a customs border was imposed in the Irish Sea to allow Northern Ireland to remain a part of the European Union's (EU's) single market for goods while the rest of the U.K. left. This means that food products moving from England, Scotland and Wales into Northern Ireland are subject to extra controls and checks at ports.A three month "grace period" means that supermarkets currently don't need to comply with