Businesses in England, Scotland and Wales are already “talking about pulling out of Northern Ireland” as a result of Brexit-related trade barriers, according to the region’s Agriculture Minister.
Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots revealed during his most recent Minister’s Questions that unwieldy levels of bureaucracy on goods entering the region after January 1 had the potential to add tens of thousands to the cost of some food consignments.
“It is incredibly important that we achieve that [frictionless trade] and that the European Union recognises that Northern Ireland could be damaged as a consequence of the protocol,” he said.
Reprieve for dairy?
During the discussion, Poots appeared to suggest special arrangements could be made for the dairy industry.
“There is a trading scheme that we could have for the dairy sector,” he told MLAs, in response to Matthew O’Toole’s question asking what could be done to avoid a “cataclysmic set of circumstances” for the region’s dairy farmers.
However, when contacted by AgriLand to clarify what trading scheme the minister referred to, the department was unable to offer any further information despite the comments being made a week ago on Tuesday, November 3.
Red meat concern
Poots explained the biggest risk applied to Northern Ireland’s red meat sector.
“Worryingly, the red meat sector imports around £250 million of beef each year for further processing. That supports around 1,000 jobs here, particularly in Mid Ulster. Because of the protocol, that business has the potential to be lost,” he said.
“I have been working closely with the Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association [NIFDA], for example, and other organisations, in devising a means to overcome those issues, but we need the European Union to work with the people of Northern Ireland to ensure that Northern Ireland Plc, jobs and consumers are not damaged.
“Nonsense such as every supermarket having to put export health certificates on each item in a lorry will lead to thousands of pounds or, in some instances, tens of thousands being added to a lorryload of goods that will end up in the like of Iceland, Asda, Sainsbury’s or Tesco.
The consequence of that is that we will likely lose some of those businesses from Northern Ireland, and there will be the consequent job losses and a potential loss of goods that people want to buy from the shelves.
“A lot of businesses in GB are talking about pulling out of the Northern Ireland market because of the protocol.
“As it stands, the protocol is extremely damaging, but it can be remedied if the European Union cooperates with us to do so.”
