AQW 22873/17-22

Mrs Pam Cameron
Democratic Unionist Party
South Antrim

Tabled Date: 21/09/2021
Answered On Date: 06/10/2021
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for his assessment of the impact of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland on the accessibility for local farmers and breeders to take livestock to agricultural shows in Great Britain.

Answer:

The movement of livestock, particularly cattle and sheep, from Northern Ireland (NI) to Great Britain (GB) for agricultural shows or exhibitions is a long-standing tradition for our local farmers and breeders and provides an opportunity to access markets and to demonstrate the quality of our specimens and blood lines, which are internationally recognised as excellent.

Additional animal health requirements, as prescribed by European Union (EU) legislation listed in the Northern Ireland Protocol, have been applicable since 1 January 2021 for NI livestock returning to NI following a temporary movement to GB (including for the purpose of an agricultural show or exhibition).

I am completely opposed to any additional requirements for the re-entry of livestock to NI from GB under the NI Protocol and firmly believe they place our farmers and breeders, including pedigree breeders, in a disadvantaged position while negatively affecting the livelihood of their business.

For this reason, I have already written on a number of occasions to Maroš Šefčovič the EU Vice President and to George Eustice MP, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to highlight the burden these new requirements impose on stakeholders. I continue to make representations to the EU Commission and the UK Government, urging them to find long-term, sensible solutions that take into account the actual biosecurity risk to the EU’s Single Market and the position of Northern Ireland as integral part of the UK.

I also recently took the opportunity to once again stress the difficulties the NI Protocol is having on our livestock breeding industry when I met George Eustice and Lord Frost on a tour of the Balmoral show.

The EU has now proposed a regulatory solution to facilitate the swift return of livestock to NI from events, exhibitions or shows in GB, however, the full detail of its proposal is still unclear. My officials are therefore continuing to engage with EU officials and with their counterparts in the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in order to seek further information on the nature of the EU’s proposed solution and I hope to be in a position to update you / the industry further in due course.