LONDON, 3 February, 2021 (TON): The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson has demanded urgent action from the European Union (EU) amid post Brexit rising tensions on checking at the Northern Ireland ports.

UK and EU leaders are to hold talks in an effort to calm the trade issues between Britain and Northern Ireland (NI), meanwhile, the checks on goods were suspended on Tuesday after the threats to the staff.  

Mr Johnson said the EU had "undermined" the Brexit deal by threatening emergency controls of Covid vaccine exports across the Irish border.

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, who will be representing the UK government in talks with the EU Commission and Northern Ireland's devolved administration, said a three-month grace period with lighter enforcement of EU rules should be extended beyond March.

The issue arose when the hauliers at the NI ports faced difficulties transporting goods from Britain, few parcel deliveries were hurdled and the supermarkets faced problems in restocking some products during the last month, although few of these problems have since been resolved.

"Trust has been eroded, the damage has been done and urgent action is therefore needed," Mr Gove told the House of Commons on Tuesday, adding that supermarkets and other businesses needed to be sure they could continue to supply consumers.

When the Brexit transition period ended in January, Northern Ireland remained in the EU single market while the rest of the UK left, meaning that checks had to be carried out on goods arriving from Great Britain.

The unionists on the other hand have criticized these rules, called the Northern Ireland protocol, as damaging to trade and posing a risk to UK unity.

Mr. Johnson said ahead of the meeting with the EU that his commitment to people of Northern Ireland and the union was "unshakeable".

He called for "urgent action from the EU to resolve outstanding problems" with the way the protocol was implemented, to preserve the Good Friday Agreement and ensure "Northern Ireland benefits from Brexit just like every other part of our United Kingdom".

He said, recent moves by the EU had "undermined the protocol and understandably provoked concern".

As it is seen, that the NI protocol was a part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement as it guarantees an open border between the EU and the NI. And it was introduced to avoid creating a hard border on the island of Ireland. However, there are some checks maintained at the products that are sent from Britain to Northern Ireland for the reason that Ireland is still a part of the EU single market for goods while rest of the UK is not.