AQW 13156/17-22

Mr Andrew Muir
Alliance Party
North Down

Tabled Date: 21/01/2021
Answered On Date: 03/06/2021
Priority Written: Yes

Question:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs what his Department is doing to ensure frictionless delivery of plant and seed deliveries from Great Britain to Northern Ireland from 1 January 2021.

Answer:

EU legislative sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) and marketing controls apply restrictions for third country movements of plants and seeds into Northern Ireland (NI) from Great Britain (GB), since 1 January 2021.

My Department are continuing to work with Defra and others in seeking workable solutions to these barriers to trade and to achieve frictionless trade in plants and seeds from GB. Currently, the UK Government’s Movement Assistance Scheme (MAS) is available to assist GB suppliers with the necessary Phytosanitary Certification costs. I remain committed to ensure that smaller businesses and individuals in Northern Ireland are not disproportionately burdened in accessing smaller consignments and will press for continued UKG commitment to fund the MAS.

I am also concerned that the current arrangements applying prohibitions on certain plants and also the prohibition on soil as a growing medium which is common across a much wider range of plants, adversely impacting on NI businesses.

The implementation of the EU regulatory controls and subsequent disruption to trade in plants and seeds from GB to NI is, in my view, is an unnecessary burden and damaging to this long established trade. Therefore, I am continuing to press the UK Government to seek agreement with the EU, on workable solutions to permit plants and seeds from GB to be available to the NI market.