Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the UK-EU deal on the (a) applicability and (b) operation of the Official Controls Regulation (EU) 2017/625 in Northern Ireland.

The Government has agreed in its new Common Understanding with the EU a new SPS agreement which makes it easier for food and drink to be imported and exported by reducing the red tape that placed burdens on businesses and led to lengthy lorry queues at the border. This agreement will have no time limit, giving vital certainty to businesses.

The SPS Agreement will facilitate the smooth flow of agrifood and plants from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, protecting the UK’s internal market, reducing costs for businesses and improving consumer choice by applying a consistent regulatory framework for official controls across the United Kingdom.

There will be no need for SPS paperwork such as health certificates to move agrifood or plant products to Northern Ireland, no mandatory identity and physical checks on those goods, no need for Plant Health Labels when moving plants for planting, seed potatoes, and used agricultural machinery, and no bans on ‘high risk’ plants.