Official Report: Minutes of Evidence

The Chairperson (Mr Brett): I am pleased to welcome to the Committee Mark McGregor, who is head of legislation, goods regulation and chemicals branch at the Department. Mark, apologies for keeping you waiting, sir. You are very welcome to the Committee this morning. I am very happy to hand over to you at this stage.

Mr Mark McGregor (Department for the Economy): Good morning, everybody. I will give you a brief update on where we are since we last met to discuss the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill. Lord Leong, a Minister in the Department for Business and Trade wrote to former Minister Murphy on 4 September to advise that he had introduced the Bill that same day. There had previously been no substantive engagement with him or his officials ahead of the Bill's introduction, and the normal agreement in principle was not sought at the outset.

The Bill initially conferred largely unchecked powers on the Secretary of State to make regulations that are related to products. There was a concern about that, and that has now been addressed by the tabled devolution amendment for Committee Stage in Parliament. The Bill also confers powers to amend metrology legislation, though that is a non-controversial area, with long-standing cooperative approaches in a scientific and technical field. Metrology is about weights and measures, which sit with our trading standards side.

The definition of "product" in the Bill is so broad that it is impossible to identify everything that is within scope and in the relevant legislation. "Product" means:

That can be something as simple as packaging a product as a means of production. It means that the product would then potentially fall under the scope of the Bill.

Chemicals are the only products that we have been able to identify as being within the scope of the definition of the Department's competence. To a limited extent, the Department has competence for three chemicals regimes: REACH, which deals with registration, evaluation and accreditation; CLP, which is classification, labelling and packaging; and biocidal products.

Products are generally a reserved matter as per paragraphs 37 and 38 of schedule 3 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998. That is:

and:

The most predictable uses of the powers are likely to be inapplicable in Northern Ireland, as we generally follow equivalent EU/Windsor framework legislation on products, with the exception of metrology, which is a non-Windsor framework area and is generally assimilated law, which is either legislation that was derived from EU legislation prior to exit or domestic legislation. An element of metrology, units of measurements, is reserved, and United Kingdom primary standards are reserved matters.

It is expected that many usages will be for GB alignment with the EU regulations that are already applicable here. When Minister Murphy was first contacted about the Bill, he, and then Minister Archibald, raised general concerns about conferring broad non-concurrent powers on the Secretary of State to make regulations that are potentially in an area of devolved competence.

A second concern was that the definition was so wide that it could capture the interests of other Departments and that they had not been engaged. That has now been resolved, and the Bill team engaged the other Departments where appropriate, such as DAERA for chemicals, DFI for vehicle type approvals and DOJ for firearms and explosives.

The powers issue, which is about the broad unchecked powers, has been addressed by the Government's devolution amendment that has been tabled for the Committee Stage. That was identified in the Committee's updated legislative consent memorandum. There is a direction to the amendment papers in the Bill pack. The Bill and its presentation have identified some areas where it may be used, and those suggestions come from analysis in the Department. It may be used to mirror the market surveillance regime, which is EU market surveillance and which is already applicable in Northern Ireland under the Windsor framework. It could also be used to mirror eco-design for sustainable products, which is another EU regulation that is applicable in Northern Ireland under the Windsor framework. It could be used to mirror the general product safety regulation, which is another EU regulation that is applicable in Northern Ireland under the Windsor framework. There are other areas of emerging policy in which it could be used, such as AI and lithium ion batteries.

Minister Archibald met Justin Madders, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Business and Trade, on 26 March to discuss our concerns and the possible resolutions. She also put the Bill team in touch with officials from the other Departments. The Government then proposed the devolution amendment, which means that any exercise of powers in areas of devolved competence would require the consent of the relevant devolved Administration. The devolution amendment covers all three devolved Governments, and it has separate clauses for each Administration. The Executive discussed the request on 30 April 2025 and approved Minister Archibald's taking forward the consent request.

I will give a broad summary of the Bill. It gives the Secretary of State the power to make product regulations to reduce or mitigate the risks that are presented by products that are used or marketed in the UK and to ensure that those products operate effectively and give accurate measurement readings. The Product Regulation and Metrology Bill contains measures that seek to update the UK's product safety regulation metrology framework. The Government stated that the Bill aims to ensure that the UK is:

can respond to:

and deliver:

It is a relatively short Bill that consists of 15 clauses and one schedule of exclusions, and it makes provision for the marketing use of products in the UK, units of measurement and the quantities in which goods are regulated in the UK. It is an enabling Bill, so there is no proposed legislative change in the Bill. The Bill confers powers to Ministers to develop the details of legislation at a later date. If enacted, the Bill will provide new delegated powers to Ministers to set and update product safety and metrology rules, as well as enable the UK to choose whether to recognise EU product requirements and mirror them.

That is a brief update, and I am happy to take questions.

The Chairperson (Mr Brett): Mark, thank you very much for that. It was useful, and everyone will want to see product safety across the United Kingdom. The Bill affords the Government the ability to legislate on a UK-wide basis to ensure that divergence as a result of the Windsor framework does not continue on the issue. Northern Ireland will stay in the UK internal market as a result of legislation that is taken forward by UK Ministers that will bring GB into line with Northern Ireland. Is that right?

Mr McGregor: Yes. That is one of the things that could be done. New legislation can be made in other areas, and metrology is slightly separate from that because it is not a Windsor framework area.

The Chairperson (Mr Brett): Thank you.

Mr Buckley: Thanks, Mark. I am seeing you in a forum that is different from the Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee. Talk to me about the devolution amendment. Does it require the approval of the relevant Minister or of the Assembly?

Mr McGregor: It will depend on the nature of the legislation that is being taken forward. If it were Assembly legislation, we would be required to take forward primary legislation to do that ourselves. In that case, there would be a consent requirement, because the Assembly would be seeking to agree UK primary legislation. There is not a general legislative or set process for secondary legislation, so, if there were more minor, technical or consequential updates, they may just be referred to the Minister, who would normally advise their departmental Committee of that secondary request. Anything bigger, requiring primary legislation, would require consent, so it would go to the Executive and the Assembly.

Mr Buckley: As you know, one of the major issues facing the Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee is the fact that regulations that come via Europe and are imposed on Northern Ireland are creating a great differential and friction between Northern Ireland and GB. What is your understanding of the speed with which the Bill will enable Ministers to ensure that there is no differential with or divergence from GB?

Mr McGregor: That is not an issue that we have discussed with the Bill team. That team is very much focused on getting the powers in place. It has not started to develop a programme of legislation flowing from the Bill. I do not know how quickly we are going to start to see stuff develop out of that. I have had no indication at all of a programme for secondary legislation or implementing legislation that flows out of the Bill.

The Chairperson (Mr Brett): No other member has any questions. Thank you very much indeed, Mark, for that. We really appreciate your time. Apologies again for keeping you waiting.