Movement of Goods (Northern Ireland to Great Britain) (Animals, Feed and Food, Plant Health etc.) (Transitory Provision and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2024

Motion to Approve

That the draft Regulations laid before the House on 28 October be approved.

My Lords, this instrument forms part of the Government’s commitment to implementing the border target operating model by ensuring that sanitary and phytosanitary controls are applied to European Union and rest-of-world goods entering Great Britain through Northern Ireland. These controls are essential to maintaining the United Kingdom’s biosecurity and food safety, as well as focusing the benefits of unfettered access arrangements on qualifying Northern Ireland goods.

The instrument uses powers conferred by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. It has two main purposes. First, it applies pre-notification and sanitary and phytosanitary certification requirements to goods that are not qualifying Northern Ireland goods entering Great Britain through Northern Ireland. These requirements are consistent with those already applied to certain European Economic Area goods and those entering Great Britain from Switzerland, Liechtenstein, the Faroe Islands and Greenland under the transitional staging period. This means that European Union and rest-of-world goods entering Great Britain through Northern Ireland are treated the same as such goods entering Great Britain through Ireland.

Secondly, the regulations make consequential amendments to various pieces of sanitary and phytosanitary legislation. The qualifying Northern Ireland goods definition was amended earlier this year for food and feed goods. The consequential amendments in the legislation that I am presenting today ensure that the updated definition is reflected consistently across the regulatory framework.

I emphasise from the outset that the Government remain fully committed to ensuring unfettered access for qualifying Northern Ireland goods to the rest of the UK market. The Windsor Framework Command Paper, published by the previous Government in February 2023, and the Border Target Operating Model, published in August 2023, clearly state that Northern Ireland businesses will have unfettered access when moving qualifying Northern Ireland goods into Great Britain. The Border Target Operating Model also states that European Union and rest-of-world goods will be subject to sanitary and phytosanitary controls when moving from Northern Ireland into Great Britain. The approach adopted in this legislation is consistent with those commitments.

The instrument does not make any changes to the arrangements for moving qualifying Northern Ireland goods into Great Britain. Qualifying Northern Ireland goods are not required to undergo any of the controls implemented by this legislation and will continue to move freely within the UK internal market. Indeed, by applying controls to European Union and rest-of-world goods entering Great Britain through Northern Ireland, these measures more closely focus the benefits of unfettered market access on Northern Ireland traders moving qualifying Northern Ireland goods. This will sharpen their competitive advantage.

Moved by

At end insert “but that this House regrets that the draft Regulations implement the Northern Ireland Protocol and Windsor Framework which prevent Northern Ireland being a full part of the United Kingdom’s internal market, and undermine the democratic and constitutional rights of the people of Northern Ireland.”

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for moving the Motion, for the discussions that we have had and for her engagement with noble Lords and noble Baronesses from Northern Ireland on the various issues that affect us under the Windsor Framework protocol. I move my regret amendment because the regulations implement the Northern Ireland protocol, which has been renamed the Windsor Framework but in European law is still called the Northern Ireland protocol, and which prevents Northern Ireland from being a full part of the United Kingdom’s internal market for a large number of goods and agrifood products, as well as undermining the democratic and constitutional rights of all the people of Northern Ireland.

We had a debate in recent weeks on another statutory instrument. I am grateful that we have the opportunity to debate yet another statutory instrument flowing from the withdrawal Act and the implementation of the Windsor Framework because it is important that, in this Chamber and the other place, we have the opportunity to scrutinise and examine laws that are made by way of subsidiary legislation but carry out the wishes of a foreign political entity as far as Northern Ireland is concerned. It is therefore all the more important that we should be aware of what is happening.

While they may be described as technical in nature, the substance and import of these regulations have significant political and constitutional consequences. Together with the many other statutory instruments and subordinate legislation under the protocol/ Windsor Framework already passed and to be passed by this House and the other place, these constitute a substantial body of law imposing EU jurisdiction over part of the UK.

The Minister mentioned that the regulations are temporary in nature. The Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee included in its eighth report a number of paragraphs on the regulations. In its submission to that committee, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said that the long-term approach to sanitary and phytosanitary controls, including checks on EU and rest-of-world goods entering Great Britain from the island of Ireland, as it put it, is yet to be announced. I would be grateful if the Minister could tell your Lordships when we can expect the long-term approach to be implemented, whether this House will be consulted about those long-term arrangements and indeed what arrangements are in place to consult Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Executive on those measures. In the meantime, these are the regulations that we have in front of us.

Now we are told—and the Minister has said this again this evening—that Northern Ireland businesses will have full, unfettered access when moving qualifying Northern Ireland goods to the rest of the United Kingdom internal market directly from Northern Ireland to Great Britain and indirectly via the Irish Republic. At the same time, non-qualifying Northern Ireland goods must comply with all the relevant GB sanitary, phytosanitary and customs requirements.

Of course, it should be stated that the reason we are even debating how goods are moved between one part of the United Kingdom and another is the deplorable situation that Northern Ireland now finds itself in, where our country is divided by a customs border due to the implementation of the protocol/Windsor Framework accepted by the previous Government. The reality is that there is no such need for any kind of legislation or processes for moving goods between London and Edinburgh or from Cardiff to Bristol or anything else like that; we are part of one country. Yet when it comes to Northern Ireland, for the first time, we have a situation where a panoply of complex, difficult, hard to understand and operate rules are in place, to the extent that the Government have had to put in place a traders’ support service, which up to now has cost over £0.5 billion, to help people move goods within the United Kingdom—this at a time when the Northern Ireland Executive are really strapped for cash in terms of hospitals, infrastructure and everything else.

That is only part of the cost involved in these restrictions and complex arrangements. It would be also good to know whether the Government intend and continue to pledge that these arrangements for trader support and other movement assistance schemes will remain in place indefinitely, or is it still the plan that at some point they will come to an end and then traders and hauliers will have to bear the cost, which will, of course, be passed on to consumers in Northern Ireland? Concepts such as qualifying Northern Ireland goods and non-qualifying Northern Ireland goods are necessary only because of the protocol, as a result of which we are subject to this panoply of regulations to govern trade within the United Kingdom.

When we look in detail at this statutory instrument, we see that it gives rise to a number of questions. The Government continue to repeat the mantra that Northern Ireland qualifying goods will have unfettered access moving from Northern Ireland into Great Britain. Of course, they cannot say that—and do not attempt to say that to be fair—in relation to goods moving from Great Britain into Northern Ireland, because that is subject to an international customs border now, with all the consequent problems.

Non-qualifying goods coming through the Irish Republic into Northern Ireland and then onwards into Great Britain must, however, comply with all the necessary sanitary, phytosanitary and customs requirements. It would be useful if the Minister could set out how this is to be enforced. The Government seem to be suggesting in this instrument that it will be done in terms of compliance away from the border. Regulation 2(4) says:

“Official controls required by the competent authority to be carried out on relevant goods moving in the course of a relevant movement may be performed at a border control post, or, where such goods do not enter through a border control post, any other of the places specified in Article 44(3) of the Official Controls Regulation”.

Of course, the Official Controls Regulation is not UK law. It refers to Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of 15 March 2017. For much of law now governing trade within Northern Ireland and between Northern Ireland and Great Britain in both directions, we now have to refer to European laws. It is not in the statute book of the United Kingdom; it is in the Official Journal of the European Union. Article 44(3) of that EU regulation states:

“The official controls … shall be performed at an appropriate place within the customs territory of the United Kingdom, including … the point of entry … a border control post … the point of release for free circulation in Great Britain … the warehouses and the premises of the operator responsible for the consignment … the place of destination”.

What is striking about this regulation is that we are told that for movements from Northern Ireland to Great Britain it is perfectly possible to have a border but that the compliance and other checks on goods can be done away from the border in the various situations as outlined in the EU regulation. Yet, when goods are moved in the other direction—from Great Britain to Northern Ireland—we are forced to have full checks with full international customs requirements except in limited circumstances where you are allowed to go through a green lane at the grace and favour of the EU which, of course, can be removed by the EU at its whim, if it suits it, because it is prescribed in EU legislation not in UK legislation.

It is worth asking: why are there double standards? Why is there a different approach? It must be entirely political, because there are perfectly practical answers as to how these checks can be done as the Government are proposing in this statutory instrument and, indeed, is allowed for by the European Union regulations. The same practice, the same approach, could be adopted in both directions. These regulations expose the bogus nature of the arguments for checks and procedures at ports in Northern Ireland for goods being moved from Great Britain. If it can be done for goods going west to east, it can be done this way for goods going north/south between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic and vice versa. People say this is all the result of Brexit; no, it is the result of the way in which Brexit has been done by putting an international customs border down the middle of our country instead of where it should be and managing it as set out in these regulations. That should have been the approach from day one.

In all this, something else should not be lost: goods moving from the Irish Republic into Northern Ireland and staying in Northern Ireland—not moving on to Great Britain but moving from the Irish Republic into part of the United Kingdom—will not be subject to any checks, any compliance requirements or any paperwork. That is the way that the border should be in both directions between Northern Ireland and Great Britain —we are part of the same country after all. But the reason it is so for the Irish Republic and not for Northern Ireland vis-à-vis the rest of the United Kingdom is that Northern Ireland is deemed to be part, and legislated to be part, of the EU single market. It is easier and totally free to move goods and agrifood produce between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic and the Irish Republic into Northern Ireland than it is to move goods within the United Kingdom itself.