Food businesses are concerned the short notice given by government on new labelling guidance for Northern Ireland exports will cause trade chaos.
Defra has set out the requirements for food products entering NI via the Irish Sea border earlier this week as part of the government’s Windsor Framework deal with the European Union, an agreement replacing the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol.
The government has now confirmed some food products, such as meat and dairy, arriving in Northern Ireland via the ‘green lane’ – a fast-track system for British goods intended to stay in NI and not headed south of the border – will need individual product labels with the words ‘Not for EU’.
However, the guidance has come with a one-month delay from the original promised date of 12 May, raising concerns amid traders who fear they won’t have time to prepare their operations for when the new checks roll out on 1 October.
“Whilst our members welcome the publication of the guidance on the GB-NI labelling requirements and the retail movement scheme, the time in which to achieve compliance remains a major concern,” said the Denise Rion, head of technical at the British Frozen Food Federation.
“Industry now faces the uphill battle of trying to secure slots with already overstretched design houses and printers to accommodate the requirements.
“With each piece of packaging typically taking around 100 days or more to progress through the design stages to final print, it is difficult to see just how industry will ever meet the deadlines they now face.
“We can only trust that common sense will indeed prevail and a proportionate and risk-based approach to enforcement will be applied.”
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This two-lane system was brought in by Rishi Sunak as a way to ease trading friction caused by Brexit and the subsequent NI Protocol – which saw all GB goods entering Northern Ireland follow EU border rules, resulting in a slump in exports due to all the additional red tape.
Businesses eligible for the green lane system, officially known as the Retail Movement Scheme, will need less paperwork and go through little to no routine physical checks.
Goods which are set to continue their journey into the Republic of Ireland or other EU markets must go through the red lane and face more burdensome checks.
Provision Trade Federation director general Rod Addy also warned the “very tight timescale to introduce this labelling” will lead to companies “simply electing to channel all their products via the red lane rather than the green lane” on the short-term, which will slow down the flow of goods.
The green lane labelling requirements will roll out in phases, with the first tranche covering all prepacked meat, prepacked meat products, meat packed on sales premises and some dairy products such as pasteurised milk, buttermilk, cottage cheese, crème fraiche and sour cream.
Phase 1 does not include composite products like lasagne, pork pies or pepperoni pizza – these come into force in phase 3, which begins in 2025.
Phase 2 starts in October 2025 and will see the original list expand to all milk and dairy products.
From 1 July 2025, additional food products that move through the green lane must be individually labelled, including pet food, fruit and vegetables, fish and composite products such as pizza.
The government has allowed for a 30-day transition period at the start of each phase, which means that goods that are already on the market will not need to be relabelled and will be able to be sold during that period.
In addition to the labelling changes, Defra also revealed some green lane processed products of animal origin (POAO) goods will need a export health certificate, albeit more simplified.
The government has so far said that “movements will use a single General Certificate” rather than multiple certificates, but further details on this EHC are still to come.
An FDF spokeswoman said: “Many UK businesses are still searching for clarity on a number of areas, including whether their products are in scope of product labelling requirements and health certification and the associated costs.
”Government plans to extend ‘not for EU’ labelling on a GB-wide basis are unnecessary and will fail to deliver any practical benefits for shoppers or businesses. Instead, it will drive up costs at a time when we need food prices to go down, and will undermine exports and vital investment.”
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