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The Northern Ireland Revised Protocol¹ ('the Protocol') took effect from 1 January 2021. The Protocol provides a practical solution to ensure that a hard border with Ireland can be avoided whilst ensuring the UK, including Northern Ireland, leaves the EU as a whole. The UK Government has devised special provisions which apply only in Northern Ireland while the Protocol is in force.

The Protocol is not codified as a permanent solution: it is designed to address a particular set of problems in a way that upholds the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement (the Good Friday) Agreement²). As it is based on the consent of the people of Northern Ireland, hence the elected institutions in Northern Ireland will decide what happens to the Protocol's alignment provisions in a consent vote that can take place every four years, with the first vote taking place in 2024. However, for as long as they are in force, the UK has committed to give effect to them in a practical manner that minimises the impact on individuals