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What Johnson's Brexit will do for the Irish border

A lorry driver passes an anti-Brexit "No Hard Border" as he drives in Newry, Northern Ireland on October 16, 2019, on the road crossing the border between Newry and Dundalk in Ireland.

[LONDON] Following is a summary of the protocol on Northern Ireland that forms part of the UK and European Union's Brexit deal. 

#Northern Ireland will be part of the UK customs union, and free to benefit from any trade agreements the UK reaches with other countries. It will follow the single market's rules in a number of areas to avoid a hard border.

#No duties will be paid on goods brought into Northern Ireland from another part of the UK - unless that good is at risk of subsequently being moved into the EU or being processed into a good that will be.

#UK residents will pay no duties on personal property brought into Northern Ireland from another part of the UK. Nor will levies be made on goods contained in travellers' personal baggage.

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#The UK will be responsible for collecting VAT and excise duties - but the EU's VAT rules will continue to to apply. Tax exemptions and reduced rates applied in Ireland may also be applied in Northern Ireland in order to avoid distorting the level playing field on the island.

#North-South cooperation will be continued in the areas of: environment, health, agriculture, transport, education and tourism, as well as in the areas of energy, telecommunications, broadcasting, inland fisheries, justice and security, higher education and sport.

#If the application of the Protocol leads to serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties that are liable to persist, or to diversion of trade, the EU or UK may unilaterally take appropriate safeguard measures.

#Four years after the end of the transition period, the Northern Ireland Assembly will vote on whether to stop or continue applying EU law. (If they vote against, the Protocol would cease to apply after a two-year grace period.) Every four years thereafter, the Assembly could vote again. If the vote gathers support from both nationalists and unionists, the next vote could only be held eight years later.