LONDON: The United Kingdom is ready to take unilateral action that would suspend customs checks on goods moving to Northern Ireland, foreign minister Liz Truss said ahead of talks with the European Union.

Truss is due to hold talks with EU Vice President Maros Sefcovic this week to resolve disagreements over post-Brexit trade arrangements for Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom which shares a land border with EU member Ireland.

To avoid politically contentious border checks between Ireland and Northern Ireland, Britain and the EU agreed Northern Ireland would effectively remain within the EU’s customs union for goods, with checks taking place on goods moving between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland instead.

However, there has been friction about how this applies in practice - especially for goods intended to remain within Northern Ireland - as well as the arbitration role of the EU’s European Court of Justice.