Vice-president of the European Commission, Maros Sefcovic, the UK’s Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris have said that work for potential solutions for the protocol in Northern Ireland will continue.
They met today (Monday, January 16) via video conference to discuss the work on the protocol since the last meeting on January 9.
The European Commission’s statement following the meeting said that the two sides discussed the “range of existing challenges” over the last two years and need to find solutions together to tackle the concerns of Northern Ireland’s communities.
The main issue at hand is the need for protection of Northern Ireland’s place in the UK’s internal market and the integrity of the EU’s single market, according to the statement
“They agreed that this scoping work for potential solutions should continue in a constructive and collaborative spirit, taking careful account of each other’s legitimate interests,” the statement read.
What is the Northern Ireland Protocol?
During Brexit negotiations, the UK and the EU agreed a protocol for Northern Ireland that would mean there would be no checks on goods crossing the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (ROI).
The key aims of the protocol were to:
- Avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and ROI;
- Ensure the integrity of the EU’s single market for goods;
- Facilitate unfettered access for Northern Ireland goods to Great Britain’s market;
- Facilitate the inclusion of Northern Ireland goods in free trade agreements between the UK and third countries.
This was designed to ensure that Northern Ireland remained in the EU’s single market for goods, while England, Scotland and Wales left the EU’s single market for goods.
This would facilitate goods to flow to and from Northern Ireland to ROI and the rest of the EU in the same fashion as they had previously done while the UK was still a member of the EU – without custom checks, tariffs or new paperwork.
The EU’s rules on customs and regulation of agri-food products, however, continue to apply to goods arriving in Northern Ireland.
Agriculture
Agricultural issues in relation to the Northern Ireland Protocol have been a subject of heated debate since the UK’s decision to leave the EU.
From the beginning of 2021, there were changes to agricultural trading on the island and businesses have been consistently warned to be aware of these new arrangements.
The changes specifically impacted on farmers and organisations that are involved in the movement of live animals, animal products or plant products.
The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has previously highlighted veterinary medicines, cattle movements, plant protection products (PPP) and farm machinery as the four key issues that impact on farmers as a result of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
On cattle movements, the UFU’s dairy committee chair Kenny Hawkes, said: “Many of our farmers would have sold pedigree bulls into Great Britain but the restrictions have brought this to an end and has also affected the importation of dairy heifers.”
“EU sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) rules continue to apply in Northern Ireland under the Northern Ireland Protocol.
“This means that since January 1, 2021, all regulated PPPs including seeds moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, are required to meet the EU’s third country import requirements.
“The danger is that whilst according to the EU Northern Ireland producers could source PPP from the Republic of Ireland, they may end up using a product which is not permitted in Northern Ireland/Great Britain.
“Moving second-hand machinery between Great Britain and Northern Ireland is also being affected by the Northern Ireland Protocol because all machines must be free of soil and other potential contaminants for entry into Northern Ireland.”