BBC
Michael and Lesley Cairnduff said 'small businesses are crucified'
The assembly will vote this week on whether the Brexit deal with Northern Ireland, the Windsor framework, should continue to operate for another four years.
This effectively keeps NI within the EU single market for goods.
This means that trade in goods across the border with the Republic of Ireland, an EU country, is not disrupted by Brexit.
The flip side is that goods arriving from elsewhere in the UK are subject to checks and balances – the so-called Irish Sea border.
Michael and Lesley Cairnduff, who run a pet food business based in County Down, said the paperwork required was “crucifying” small businesses like theirs.
Border checkpoint
At Larne Port, the maritime border continues to take physical shape, with a new border checkpoint under construction.
Before Brexit, livestock arriving from other parts of the UK were checked here, but this new facility, built to EU specifications, is much larger.
Businesses have faced new controls and associated bureaucracy since 2021, when the original version of the framework, the Northern Ireland Protocol, began to be implemented.
For many large companies, the impacts are now largely digested.
They have, at a cost, hired staff and put processes in place to ensure goods continue to flow from Britain.
The major UK supermarkets all still have a presence in NI and some continue to expand.
The chief executive of a major food company told the BBC that the maritime border now rarely features in discussions within the sector.
However, for smaller businesses with fewer resources, the maritime border remains an unpredictable challenge.
A new border checkpoint is under construction at Larne port
The BBC first spoke to Michael and Lesley Cairnduff at their pet food business in Newcastle, County Down, in 2021.
By this time they had gone about four months without being able to get their supplies from Britain in the usual way, on a commercially shipped pallet.
Their supplier adapted and the goods were able to circulate again.
“We were lucky they supported us,” Mr Cairnduff said. “They have put all the necessary measures in place.”
However, dealing with maritime boundary issues still takes a considerable amount of time.
“We're just not getting the support from the system and the politicians that was promised,” he said.
Ms Cairnduff added: “Yesterday I spent two hours working on issues related to the arrival of a pallet. I shouldn't have to do that. We should spend our time helping customers, not doing paperwork for the pallets.”
PA Media
Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the Windsor framework made Northern Ireland “the most dynamic economic area in the world”.
Supply chains
In the early days of maritime frontier exploitation, doomsday predictions predicted the collapse of supply chains.
This did not happen, in part because the originally agreed deal was never implemented.
The EU eventually accepted that arrangements for transporting food and medicine would be unworkable and that NI would have to move closer to some UK rules.
If there has been no collapse of maritime borders, there has also been no boom in maritime borders.
The Windsor framework means that NI benefits from unique dual market access: NI-based manufacturers have better access to the EU single market than businesses based in Great Britain, while also retaining full access to the UK market.
It was this arrangement that led former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to describe NI as having an “incredibly special position” and as being “the most exciting economic zone in the world”.
The theory is that any international manufacturer wishing to serve both the UK and EU should establish themselves in NI.
Businesses face new controls and associated bureaucracy since 2021
However, the chief executive of NI's investment agency, Invest NI, says this has not happened yet.
Speaking at Stormont in October, Kieran Donoghue said: “There is still a relatively low level of awareness of the opportunities presented by dual market access.
“There will be, over time, opportunities for foreign direct investment.”
Stuart Anderson, from the NI Chamber of Commerce, said it was important to remember that the framework protects supply chains that cross land borders, particularly in the highly integrated agri-food sector.
He points to 2019 Economy Ministry projections, which suggested that a no-deal Brexit would cause “significant and lasting disruption” to these supply chains.
“Four years later, we are not there. The framework has provided the certainty and stability necessary for the free flow of trade,” he said.
“Some of our members who export to the Republic and further afield in Europe benefit from this.”
Reflecting on the maritime border, he says surveys of his members suggest that while most now find it manageable, a “significant minority” believe the arrangements remain “an acute challenge”.
An update to EU product safety rules means some businesses in Britain face new rules when selling to NI
It can be difficult to measure the impact of the maritime border in Northern Ireland's economic statistics.
This is particularly clear from trade data, which shows that trade between the two sides of the island has reached a record level.
This suggests that some products that NI businesses or consumers used to get from Britain are now coming from Ireland or the wider EU.
Official data suggests that NI has had a significantly better recovery from the pandemic than the UK average.
However, this growth comes almost entirely from the services sector, which is not covered by the Windsor Framework.
In contrast, manufacturing output remained stable, with energy costs, skills shortages and disruptions to global trade appearing to outweigh the benefits of dual market access.
If, as seems likely, the Assembly votes to retain the Windsor framework, businesses will continue to struggle with the maritime border.
At the end of this week, we will see that a border is not a set of fixed and stable arrangements.
An update to EU product safety rules, which apply in Northern Ireland, means some businesses in Britain face new rules when selling in Northern Ireland.
The change poses a particular challenge for micro-businesses that sell via online platforms, with some saying they will no longer be able to move their goods across the maritime border.
