New regulations have been implemented to prevent Northern Ireland from serving as a conduit for smuggling international food products into Great Britain. As of Tuesday, food and animal feed products must be processed or owned by a Northern Ireland-registered business to maintain unrestricted access.
A UK government spokesperson confirmed that qualifying goods will retain "unfettered access" to the UK market without facing border controls, regardless of their direct or indirect route via Ireland. This follows industry consultations concerned about post-Brexit trading rules being leveraged for easier access to GB through Northern Ireland.
The UK government stated that these controls ensure goods from the EU and the rest of the world entering Great Britain via Northern Ireland are subject to biosecurity controls similar to those entering from the Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland remains in the EU's single market for goods, allowing unchecked movement from the Republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland. However, EU goods moving into the wider UK require declaration and checks.
Despite promises of "unfettered" access to the GB market, enforcing this rule presents challenges. The Qualifying NI Goods Regulations initially provided a broad definition of qualifying goods, which has now been refined for food products following industry consultations.
The change aims to ensure traceability of food and feed to a Northern Irish business and restrict avoidance of checks for goods entering GB. "Non-qualifying" food products can still be shipped to GB but require official certification and declarations, with checks at ports. "Qualifying" products remain unaffected.
Source: BBC