New rules that make it more difficult for some small business in Great Britain to sell to customers in Northern Ireland and the EU have come into effect.
The EU’s General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) creates new requirements for Great Britain businesses, including the need to have an agent in Northern Ireland or the EU.
This has prompted some businesses to stop or suspend sales to Northern Ireland and the EU.
Johanna Haughey, owner of London-based homewares business Weirdstock, said the changes are “making my world a lot smaller”.
The government said it has been supporting small and medium businesses across the UK to get ready for GPSR.
The rule change applies to Great Britain products going to Northern Ireland because Northern Ireland’s Brexit deal means it is still effectively in the EU’s single market for goods.
Weirdstock, which sells bedding, is among those which has decided to pause shipping to the EU and Northern Ireland.
Ms Haughey, who is originally from County Armagh, informed her customers on social media.
“As many of you know I am from Northern Ireland, Weirdstock has a wee customer base there so I am finding this particularly frustrating.
“But at the same time I am determined to find a solution,” she wrote.
Like many small business owners she only recently found out about the implications of GPSR via a social media post and has been scrambling to work out how to comply.
She said her Northern Ireland connection may potentially make it easier for her to find an agent but there are other challenges.
The new requirements include the need to provide documentation to demonstrate the safety of your product.
“There is no template for that, no guidance. It is very hard to find information on that,” she said.
She is hoping that because her textile supplier in India is certified by global sustainability bodies it means the safety and traceability evidence will be there, but for now she is not clear exactly what she has to provide.
“Hopefully I will be in a better position than other people because I have those certifications already,” she added.
‘Barrier to international trade’
The EU has been working on GPSR since 2020 and it was approved by the European Parliament in May 2023.
It updates existing rules to reflect the growth of online commerce and aims to give better protections for consumers.
That include the need to have a “responsible person”, which is effectively a compliance agent, inside the EU or Northern Ireland.
That is a particular challenge for small businesses in Great Britain who are selling direct to consumers, therefore they have no physical presence in the EU or Northern Ireland.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is calling on the government to give better export support to firms.
Tina McKenzie, policy chair at the FSB, said: “GPSR will be a real barrier to international trade for some of our small firms looking to export to EU member states, but also move goods to Northern Ireland.
“While the UK government’s newly published guidance is helpful, small firms are still faced with the complexity and associated costs around it.
“Governments from both sides should look at removing unnecessary trade barriers, not least those arising from the product safety rules, for small businesses in the UK-EU Trade and Cooperative Agreement review in 2026.”
It is understood the government expects GPSR to have a limited impact on the UK internal market as it largely formalises the reality of how many businesses are already operating.
