Time is running out to implement the UK government’s post-Brexit plans to require all meat and dairy products sold in Northern Ireland to be labeled ‘Not for EU’, lobby groups warned on Wednesday. retail and trade.
“Not for the EU” labels on meat and dairy products are to be phased in from October as part of the Windsor frame agreement on post-Brexit trade deals for Northern Ireland which was brokered by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak earlier this year.
The agreement which resolved a long-standing dispute between the UK and the EU over the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol allows products made to British standards to circulate in the region as long as they are clearly labelled.
However, retailers told a evidence session from the House of Lords European Affairs Committee on Wednesday that the government had been far too slow to share detailed plans for how the system would work.
Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability for the British Retail Consortium, which represents the UK’s biggest supermarkets, said traders were still in the dark about border processes with just four months to go. limit.
“While we are here today, we have no certainty that we will be able to meet the requirements of the Windsor Framework by the October 1 deadline. We don’t have enough details. We don’t know how the processes will work,” he said.
Glyn Roberts, chief executive of Retail NI, the regional lobby group, added that the UK government had been “seriously negligent” in its failure to engage with businesses. “We’ve had very little dialogue with the UK government on the labeling issue,” he said.
Under Windsor, many businesses will be able to use a so-called ‘green lane’ to send goods from Britain to Northern Ireland under a deal to cut red tape at the border trade in the Irish Sea created by Brexit.
According to the timetable set out under Windsor, ‘Not for EU’ labels will be required for fresh meat and dairy products entering Northern Ireland from October this year, and for milk and butter UHT from October 2024. All fruits, vegetables and fish must have labels by July 2025.
All products will also have to carry the labels in Britain from October 2024 after the government consults with devolved governments in Scotland and Wales and passes legislation to put the new rules into effect outside the UK. ‘North Ireland.
The labels have been criticized by some Brexit leaders, including former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who told The Telegraph newspaper that the new requirements were “ridiculous” and should be dropped.
They will also create additional complexity for large supermarket chains, such as Marks and Spencer, which will now require separate labeling to export products to the Republic of Ireland and the rest of the EU.
Archie Norman, the chairman of Marks and Spencer, said while the Windsor framework would make it easier to send goods to Northern Ireland, the “complexity and cost of having to label goods differently for export” would be a “challenge” for companies exporting to Ireland and the EU.
He urged the UK and EU to devise new digital solutions to simplify processes for businesses. “Retailers have been operating digitalized supply chain systems for decades and we shouldn’t settle for a labeling regime from a pre-digital era as a permanent state,” he said. .
William Bain, head of trade policy at the UK Chambers of Commerce, said it was important that the Windsor framework be fully implemented to maintain the recent improvement in trade and economic relations between the EU and the UK. United.
“We urge the UK government to engage with businesses to quickly develop guidelines that will apply to the labeling of certain food products and to provide financial support on transition costs to suppliers and manufacturers,” said he added.
Defra did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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