Agreement undoubtedly improves cross-Border trade in some sectors

The new arrangements under the Windsor Framework include those on customs, agri-food, medicines, VAT and excise.

UK public health standards will apply to those agri-food retail goods intended for end consumption in Northern Ireland, while EU plant and animal health rules remain applicable for the protection of the EU Single Market.

An expanded trusted-trader scheme has been put in place and a permanent solution found to ensure that people in Northern Ireland have access to all medicines, including novel medicines, at the same time and under the same conditions as people in Britain. New flexibilities were found for certain VAT and excise rules.

For companies that operate on an all-island basis, such as Coca-Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland, the agreement has particular significance. It operates as an all-island business; its production facility is located in Lisburn, Co Antrim, its office is in Dublin and it has depots in Cork, Galway and Tipperary, employing more than 750 people in all.

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“We are fully committed to the long-term prosperity of the Northern Ireland economy and in January we announced a further £18 million/€20 million expansion of our production facility in Knockmore Hill, Lisburn,” says Clive Wilson, supply chain director, Coca-Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland, who welcomes the certainty the new framework brings.

“The Windsor Framework will ensure we retain tariff and barrier-free access to the European Union markets, including the delivery of our beverages to the Republic of Ireland. As a manufacturing business within the food and drink sector, we need certainty to help us plan for the future. We welcome the efforts of the UK prime minister to create a business-friendly environment in Northern Ireland and appreciate the recent assurances by the prime minister and the secretary of state that the agreement with the European Union is a workable solution for manufacturing businesses like ours.”

As time progresses, the company anticipates that certain policies in the UK and the EU will differ, resulting in the potential for additional complexity for organisations that trade north-south on the island.

Around 95 per cent of its total sales on the island of Ireland are produced at its Lisburn plant. “This reduces our reliance on GB-EU cross-Border supply and allows us to be more flexible and proactive to market changes compared to some of our competitors,” Wilson explains.

It already has extensive experience of adapting to a changed trading environment. “In preparation for Brexit, we undertook significant planning and invested heavily across the organisation, ensuring we had the processes and systems in place to facilitate continued trade across the island of Ireland, regardless of the outcome of the post-Brexit negotiations,” he adds.

“This included contingency planning for alternative suppliers within the UK and the EU so we were prepared for any changes that might occur. Since then we have navigated a variety of volatile and unplanned periods including the onset of Covid-19, inflation and challenges accessing certain ingredients. Many of the structures we developed to respond to Brexit have been utilised to help navigate these issues.”

Throughout all of these, the company’s trading position remained strong.

“For Coca-Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland, we largely trade between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, so the Northern Ireland Protocol and now the Windsor Framework has mitigated much of the customs challenges other organisations may have faced,” says Wilson.

But while the framework may have made trading easier, it hasn’t done away with trade risks completely, not least because of the potential for standards to diverge over time, says Paul Davis, a lecturer in supply-chain management at Dublin City University.

“Has the Windsor Framework made trading better in key sectors, including food and pharma? The answer is yes. Customs paper-wise there is now no issue,” says Davis.

“The question now is more about whether or not businesses will want to [trade]. There is still a risk of divergence between standards so, even with the Windsor Framework, many Irish companies will look to Europe instead,” he says.

“And the fact is, as a result of Brexit, people are now much more aware of the risks than they previously were.”