Written by Rachel Martin
The Ulster Farmers’ Union has claimed many Northern Ireland farmers have been “left struggling” with vital aspects of their farm businesses because of disruptions caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol.
A spokesman explained the latest issue to come to light was the official certification of arable seed for planting this spring.
Other examples include residency periods for livestock that have travelled to Britain to be shown or for sale before re-entry into NI, livestock identification changes, and certification requirements for freedom from soil or other potential contaminants for machinery and rooted seedling plants, as well as extra costs for NI agri-food processors.
UFU president Victor Chestnutt said: “Farmers have been left high and dry since the implementation of the NI Protocol.
“It has caused constant chaos in various trade areas that are a key part of many farm businesses across NI and yet very little has been done to address the issues.
“To say farmers are frustrated is an understatement, they are struggling and losing patience.
“The NI Protocol was designed to allow trade flows to continue. However, trade flows that have existed for years are now being disrupted because of it.
“The UFU demands immediate action and asks the DAERA Minister to urgently assist to resolve these issues.”
A spokesman explained that the transition period was effectively meaningless because the UK/EU only reached a trade agreement on Christmas Eve, giving the industry no time to prepare.
Allowances for supermarkets
“Despite the numerous meetings, and also the one-sided action displayed by the UK government in some instances recently – such as the extension of the supermarket grace period and the temporary technical approach on phased compliance for plants and agricultural machinery with soil attached – many of these issues remain unresolved,” Chestnutt said.
“As farmers, we feel that we are being overlooked with everyone believing that all of NI’s problems have been sorted simply because of the recent unilateral extension of these grace periods by the UK government. Farming’s issues weren’t covered and are still very real.”
Last week, the UK government announced they would delay the introduction of border checks from the EU into GB. A number of these were to begin next month but have been postponed until October at least.
“Indeed, checks on live animals and low-risk plant products will only be taking place from March 2022 and yet corresponding checks for GB to NI trade were implemented from January 1 this year. The UFU says this needs to be reciprocal.
“The EU/UK need to recognise that on January 1, 2021, the whole of the UK was uniquely aligned with EU rules and it’s likely that close alignment will continue as we move forward.
“We are supportive of UK/EU alignment or a bilateral agreement on agri-food standards and have been proactively conveying this.”
The union said engagement with NI regarding trade disruption has been “poor” to-date and stressed that the time to address the many issues is “running out and fast”.
“Now is the time when sheep need to be moved from Scotland to NI and seeds needs to be brought from GB to NI for spring sowing of cereals. Seasons do not wait for bureaucracy. Action needs to be taken now,” the UFU president concluded.
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