Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of phase 3 of the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme labelling scheme on the movement of pet food from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

The Government is using a data-driven approach to monitoring the market, that confirms the vast majority of pet food has been compliant with the new labelling requirements introduced on 1 July, and we have seen no evidence that the availability of pet food in Northern Ireland has been impacted by Phase 3. Industry is adapting well to the requirements of the Windsor Framework, and we will continue to work closely with businesses to support them in doing so.

Furthermore, the Government has introduced contingent legislation to enable targeted ‘not for EU’ labelling across Great Britain if evidence demonstrates that the availability of certain goods to Northern Ireland may be seriously adversely affected by the labelling requirement.

The Government is committed to safeguarding the supply of retail goods into Northern Ireland and protecting the UK Internal Market.