Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what progress has been made in discussions with the United States administration regarding the initiative outlined in the Windsor Framework and Safeguarding the Union document to establish a US Customs and Border Protection pre-clearance facility at Belfast International Airport; and what the anticipated timeline for such negotiations would be.

As part of commitments within the Windsor Framework and the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper, the then-Government committed to “enter into exploratory talks with the United States Administration on the options for introducing pre-clearance checks on customs and immigration for passengers travelling on direct flights from Belfast International Airport and destinations in the USA.”

I can confirm that this was raised with the US Administration, but the decision ultimately rests them.