Both sides still continue talks to resolve issues with trading arrangements—known as the Northern Ireland Protocol—for the British province that shares a land border with Ireland.

Those talks were unlikely to be ‘definitively concluded’ by January 1, Britain's Brexit minister David Frost was quoted as saying by a global newswire.

"The government has decided ...to extend, on a temporary basis, the current arrangements for moving goods from the island of Ireland to Great Britain for as long as discussions on the protocol are ongoing," Frost said in a written statement to parliament.

Leo Varadkar, Ireland's deputy prime minister, welcomed the delay as good news for Irish exporters and farmers.

But Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of Northern Ireland's largest pro-British party, the Democratic Unionist Party, said the situation was unfair. He said some checks were being imposed on goods going from Britain to Northern Ireland, harming British businesses, but the door had been left open for companies in Ireland.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)