recent rules that make it more challenging for some tiny business in Great Britain to sell to customers in Northern Ireland and the EU have arrive into result.

The EU’s General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) creates recent requirements for Great Britain businesses, including the require 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 globe a lot smaller”.

The government said it has been supporting tiny and medium businesses across the UK to get ready for GPSR.

The rule transformation 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 trade 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 recognize I am from Northern Ireland, Weirdstock has a wee customer base there so I am finding this particularly frustrating.

“But at the same period I am determined to discover a answer,” she wrote.

Like many tiny 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 discover an agent but there are other challenges.

The recent requirements include the require to provide documentation to demonstrate the safety of your product.

“There is no template for that, no guidance. It is very challenging to discover 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 obvious 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.

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 provide better protections for consumers.

That include the require to have a “responsible person”, which is effectively a lawful operation agent, inside the EU or Northern Ireland.

That is a particular test for tiny 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 tiny Businesses (FSB) is calling on the government to provide better export back to firms.

Tina McKenzie, policy chair at the FSB, said: “GPSR will be a real barrier to international trade for some of our tiny firms looking to export to EU member states, but also shift goods to Northern Ireland.

“While the UK government’s newly published guidance is helpful, tiny 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 tiny 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 trade as it largely formalises the reality of how many businesses are already operating.