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Michael Gove and his EU counterpart Maroš Šefčovič will meet this afternoon to discuss the Northern Ireland Protocol after a frank exchange of letters. Agri-food grace periods are likely to be high up the agenda, so some thoughts on SPS paperwork
In Dec, the Joint Committee agreed a 3 months exemption for certain agri-food paperwork & checks for supermarkets and their suppliers. This was welcome, as @instituteforgov warned back in November, the infrastructure to conduct those checks was nowhere near ready.
From the get go, the UK and EU seems to have different views as to what the grace period was for - to buy time to agree long term solutions vs allowing supply chains time to adjust. Comparing Gove's letter (left) Šefčovič's (right), they still seem pretty far apart on this.
Gove is now asking for that grace period to be extended until 2023, and broadened out to others businesses. With April fast approaching there little evidence that the NI Exec or businesses are ready for full checks so a further extension is sensible.
But it is worth remembering that only two months ago, the UK and EU agreed that it was a one time thing...
The grace period also didn't come for free - in exchange the UK committed to maintain EU standards in this area. So if the EU does agree to extension until 2023, it is likely to want another commitment to align for the next two years.
This could be further complicated by the fact that changes to EU's animal health law are due to come into effect on 21 April. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM%3A3005_2
NI will be obliged apply these changes under the protocol but the rest of the UK will not. Will UKG be prepared to follow suit?
NI will be obliged apply these changes under the protocol but the rest of the UK will not. Will UKG be prepared to follow suit?
But even extending the grace periods won't solve the problems facing NI agri-food businesses in the long-term. I've argued before the EU should be flexible on this issue https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/eu-flexibility-northern-ireland-protocol
But the UK can't expect to give nothing in return.
But the UK can't expect to give nothing in return.
