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

To ask His Majesty's Government what support or mitigations they are providing to assist businesses in implementing phase three food labelling requirements under the Windsor Framework, in the light of the UK-EU sanitary and phytosanitary agreement.

The Government has fully considered the impacts on business of phase three labelling requirements, including on costs. Those requirements are considered to be a proportionate and necessary way of enabling smooth movement of food and drink products between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. We meet regularly with affected businesses and their representatives in the interests of supporting them in meeting the requirements of the Windsor Framework.

The Government is currently negotiating an UK-EU SPS Agreement, which would remove a broad set of requirements for goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. Under that agreement the need to label goods as ‘not for EU’ is expected to diminish significantly. Achieving these benefits relies on the UK continuing in the interim to meet its existing commitments under the Windsor Framework.