Official Report: Minutes of Evidence
Committee for Health, meeting on Thursday, 12 November 2020
Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr Colm Gildernew (Chairperson)
Mrs Pam Cameron (Deputy Chairperson)
Ms Paula Bradshaw
Mr Jonathan Buckley
Mr Gerry Carroll
Mr Alan Chambers
Miss Órlaithí Flynn
Mr Colin McGrath
Mr Pat Sheehan
Witnesses:
Ms Kathryn Baker, Food Standards Agency NI
Food (Miscellaneous Amendments etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020: Food Standards Agency
The Chairperson (Mr Gildernew): We now have Kathryn on the videoconferencing system. Kathryn, welcome to our Committee meeting. We have at least one question from the Deputy Chairperson, Pam Cameron.
Mrs Cameron: Thank you, Kathryn. I will not keep you too long. I want to ask about any future divergence on labelling or composition of food between GB and NI adding to existing custom checks on food that will be required from day one in 2021. Will you tell us a bit more about that? Do you envisage a situation in which, for example, baby food that is sold in GB is not available to consumers in Northern Ireland?
Ms Kathryn Baker (Food Standards Agency NI): Pam, you have raised three questions. Your first question related to potential divergence to labelling and composition. As members will be aware, under the Northern Ireland protocol, Northern Ireland will continue to follow EU regulations in that area. We will, therefore, continue with the same standards that we have, and as those change with EU rules, we will follow. That means that there is potential for divergence from the rest of the UK after 1 January. Members will be aware that there are other strands of work in common frameworks through which we are constantly made aware of those issues, and they are discussed through those frameworks. There are, therefore, mechanisms to consider where there would be divergence and what it would mean for the UK internal market and Northern Ireland. In answer to your first question, yes, that is a potential for the future.
You also asked if there are likely to be existing checks on imports on 1 January. Yes. Again, under the Northern Ireland protocol, Northern Ireland will continue to follow the EU rules, including the import rules that are contained within official control regulations. There will be a requirement for checks on food and feed coming into Northern Ireland from GB. That is not all food, but certain food on which there are EU regulations around import checks. We are working very closely with DAERA, which is the lead Northern Ireland Department on that work, and with the district councils, which will deliver that service alongside DAERA. It is all subject to negotiation in the Joint Committee, so much of it is still being discussed, and the full scale of what an import regime will look like is still within consideration.
Your last question was on baby food. I am sorry, but I am not sure that I can answer you on that today. I can come back to you on it. I would not like to commit to anything that might be untrue. I will come back to you in writing.
Mr Buckley: Although technical, the amendment is part of a wider process that will separate Northern Ireland from the UK food standard regime and risk further divergence along the line. How do the changes interact with the letter by the First Minister and deputy First Minister to the EU, setting out concerns around barriers to the supply of food?
Ms Baker: As you point out, these are related, because the First Minister and deputy First Minister's letter is concerned with any new import regime and how that could impact on food supply, so, yes, there are a lot of interdependencies. The conversations at the Joint Committee level are ongoing, so the final outcome is not yet determined. Within the DAERA programme, all of the delivery partners were aware of the food supply issues, and those issues are being fed into the conversations.
The Chairperson (Mr Gildernew): There are no further questions. Thank you, Kathryn, for joining the Committee and providing that information. We look forward to receiving the further information that you said you will send.
No other issues have been raised. Is the Committee content that the Department makes the statutory rule?
Members indicated assent.