Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the commencement of section 45B of the UK Internal Market Act 2020, what export procedures will apply to goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain that are placed under the export procedure within the Union in accordance with Title V and Title VIII of Regulation (EU) 952/2013, what is a practical example of what a business moving a good in this context will encounter in terms of paperwork and checks; when the export procedure will be commenced; and how they plan to apply the procedure if there is no Border Control Post at Cairnryan.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Windsor Framework removes the requirement for export procedures that existed under the original Protocol and the subsequent 2020 agreement on the need for "equivalent information", with such controls only applying to a niche set of goods. Consistent with this, we have now laid domestic legislation under the Safeguarding the Union package that expressly prohibits export procedures applying to goods moving Northern Ireland to Great Britain, restoring our unfettered access safeguards. Detailed guidance on the treatment of relevant goods where exceptions apply is available on gov.uk.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the commencement of section 45B of the UK Internal Market Act 2020, what export procedures will apply to goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain that do not exceed 3,000 euros in value and are packed or loaded for export shipment within the Union, in accordance with Article 221 of Regulation (EU) 2015/2447, what is a practical example of what a business moving a good in this context will encounter in terms of paperwork and checks; when the export procedure will be commenced; and how they plan to apply the procedure if there is no Border Control Post at Cairnryan.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Windsor Framework removes the requirement for export procedures that existed under the original Protocol and the subsequent 2020 agreement on the need for "equivalent information", with such controls only applying to a niche set of goods. Consistent with this, we have now laid domestic legislation under the Safeguarding the Union package that expressly prohibits export procedures applying to goods moving Northern Ireland to Great Britain, restoring our unfettered access safeguards. Detailed guidance on the treatment of relevant goods where exceptions apply is available on gov.uk.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many applications for EU State Aid approval have been made in respect of Northern Ireland since February 2023.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has notified three measures to the European Commission for approval with respect to Northern Ireland since February 2023. Two of these schemes have been or will be applied UK-wide. The third is a Northern Ireland agricultural subsidy scheme, resulting from the benefit and freedom of no longer being part of the Common Agricultural Policy.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which existing provisions of EU law listed in Annex 2 of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland can be subjected to the Stormont Brake procedure.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The scope of EU legislation that can be subject to the Stormont Brake is set out in the Windsor Framework (Democratic Scrutiny) Regulations 2024. The Government welcomes the restoration of Northern Ireland’s devolved institutions so that this important democratic safeguard can now be exercised.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government which specific legal obligations require them to notify the EU about planned legislative changes to the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
HM Government is required to allow the EU to provide comments on notified proposed technical regulations in accordance with Article 94 of the Trade and Co-operation Agreement between the UK and the EU.
In discharging this obligation, the notification of planned legislative changes to the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 was circulated to the World Trade Organisation Technical Barriers to Trade Committee on 9th February 2024.
In accordance with arrangements provided in the Windsor Framework notification of the European Commission is also required under Assimilated Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006 Article 11 and Directive (EU) 2015/1535 Article 5(1) in respect of planned amendments to the Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998.
The EU commission were notified under the Windsor Framework of the planned amendments to the Bread and Flour Regulations (Northern Ireland) on the 8th of February 2024.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the UK can apply any duty rate on alcoholic beverages in Northern Ireland which are below the EU minimum rate.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The same alcohol duty rates apply across the whole UK. The new alcohol duty system was implemented on 1 August 2023 and moves all alcohol to taxation by strength for the first time. The rates were set at the right level to support businesses and meet public health objectives.
We have implemented these broad reforms across the whole of the UK: taxation by strength, Draught Relief, and Small Producer Relief. This was impossible in Northern Ireland under the original Protocol. The Windsor Framework secured substantive, legally binding changes to ensure that Northern Ireland benefits from the same VAT and alcohol taxes as apply in the rest of the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much of the money allocated for the construction of border control posts in Northern Ireland is for (1) agricultural food inspections, and (2) customs.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The funding allocated for SPS facilities in Northern Ireland to deal with goods moving into the EU through the red lane - as the Government had also committed to do under the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill - is a maximum funding envelope. The figure is in line with a business case which was being prepared when that Bill was in Parliament.
The facilities will fulfil a number of functions and it is not possible to provide a breakdown of costs in the manner described.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Douglas-Miller on 11 March (HL2836), whether, prior to the UK leaving the EU, seed potatoes could be moved by professional operators in Great Britain directly to Northern Ireland consumers.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under the Windsor Framework, seed potatoes can now move again from Great Britain to Northern Ireland under the terms of the NI plant health label scheme. This means professional operators in Great Britain can send seed potatoes to professional operators in Northern Ireland for commercial growing in Northern Ireland. Once these are planted in Northern Ireland and grown into potatoes for consumption, or used to produce further seed potatoes, they can be sold into Northern Ireland retailers and garden centres for personal use.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have sought to canvass the views of the EU Council of Ministers and MEPs about their readiness to remove those requirements set out by Article 4(3) of EU Regulation 2023/1231 before committing to remove statutory quotas for identity checks pertaining to the movement of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland beyond the red lane.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has been clear that there will be no checks when goods move within the UK internal market system save those conducted by UK authorities as part of a risk-based or intelligence-led approach to tackle criminality, abuse of the scheme, smuggling and disease risks. This is a matter for the UK Government. The Government meets regularly with the European Union to discuss matters under the Windsor Framework and as set out in the Command Paper, we will transition to new arrangements over the coming months.