Draft Nutrition (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Edward Argar Excerpts

Monday 2nd November 2020 General Committees

[The Chair]

Before we begin, I have to remind Members about social distancing. Thank you all for sitting in appropriate spaces, and I ask that all unmarked spaces please remain unoccupied. Hansard colleagues would be grateful if anybody who has speaking notes could email them to [e-mail]. I call the Minister to move the motion.

[The Minister for Health (Edward Argar)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Nutrition (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Nokes, I think for the first time, and to appear once again opposite the shadow Minister. I fear we are becoming something of a double act in these Delegated Legislation Committees.

The statutory instrument that we are considering concerns nutrition-related labelling, composition and standards, and follows on from SIs 2019/650 and 2019/651. Its purpose is twofold. First, it reflects the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland by amending the Nutrition (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 and revoking the Nutrition (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, which for brevity I will refer to as the 2019 regulations and the 2019 Northern Ireland regulations. Secondly, it remedies deficiencies in retained European Union nutrition legislation—that is, legislation that has come into force since March 2019 and therefore qualifies as retained legislation that must be incorporated.

As the instrument is technical in nature, I am sure that members of the Committee will welcome a brief summary of the regulations and the changes that we are making. The 2019 regulations were made in preparation for our exit from the European Union and will come into force at the end of the transition period. They will ensure that the regulatory framework for nutrition-related labelling, composition and standards remains functional throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland following the end of that transition period. They achieve that by making technical amendments to EU nutritional legislation, such as changing EU-specific references that will be redundant on exit day and transferring functions and powers currently held by the European Commission to the appropriate authorities in each of the UK’s constituent nations.

The primary purpose of today’s instrument is to give effect to the Northern Ireland protocol. Since the 2019 regulations were made in the context of planning for no deal, the withdrawal agreement has been agreed. Therefore, a revised protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland has been agreed. In practice, that protocol requires that EU nutrition legislation is continued in its application in Northern Ireland while the equivalent EU legislation is retained or acquired in domestic legislation, as amended by the 2019 regulations in the nations of Great Britain.

The instrument therefore removes Northern Ireland from the scope of the 2019 regulations, omitting references to Northern Ireland and changing UK-specific references instead to read “Great Britain”, and prevents functions from being transferred from the European Commission to the Department of Health in Northern Ireland, as would have been the case in a no-deal scenario. The instrument also revokes the 2019 Northern Ireland regulations, which amended domestic nutrition legislation in Northern Ireland in preparation for the end of the transition period. Those amendments and revocations ensure that EU nutrition legislation continues to apply in accordance with article 5 of the Northern Ireland protocol in Northern Ireland, and that our obligations under that protocol are met.

The secondary purpose of the instrument is to remedy deficiencies in retained EU nutrition legislation, specifically concerning measures on infant formula and claims that can be made on pre-packaged food that have come into force since the 2019 regulations were made. The amendments are technical in nature—for example, removing references to the EU and its institutions that will no longer be appropriate following the end of the transition period.

The devolved Administrations have been fully involved in the drafting of the instrument at every stage, and I am grateful for their continued collaborative approach. I particularly thank Robin Swann in Northern Ireland and his officials for their efforts to ensure that this policy area will continue to operate in the right way and to the same standards as it does now following the end of the transition period. Indeed, the devolved Administrations have provisionally agreed a common framework for this area that aims to maintain existing standards and promote common approaches to nutrition policy in the future.

I am also pleased to say that we have worked openly and collaboratively with stakeholders more widely. A public consultation on the statutory instrument was held in July, during which a draft was made publicly available. We remain grateful to the broad range of stakeholders who responded, with the majority supportive of the approach to give effect to the protocol in the legislation, of the amendments to retained EU legislation, and of our assessment of the impacts.

Some respondents requested more detail on the processes with which industry will have to comply. The Government’s response to the consultation was published on 24 September, and my Department has updated the relevant EU exit guidance. Updated guidance is being tested with key stakeholders to ensure that it is fit for purpose, and it will be published on gov.uk later this month. I am confident that those documents will address any residual concerns that stakeholders may have.

As the instrument proposes no significant changes to the regulatory regime, we estimate that there will be no significant impact on industry or the public sector. In practice, although the protocol means that the legal basis for EU nutrition legislation applying will continue to be directly applicable in Northern Ireland, and the same legislation will not apply to the nations of Great Britain following the end of the transition period, the instrument, as I have emphasised, simply makes technical amendments to ensure that the regulatory framework remains functional through England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and implements no policy changes. Nutrition-related labelling, composition and standards will therefore remain the same, in effect, throughout the UK.

Trade from Northern Ireland to the rest of the UK should continue to take place as it does now. There should be no additional process or paperwork, and there will be no restrictions on Northern Ireland goods arriving in the rest of the UK—that is, there will be unfettered access, as provided for by the protocol. Therefore, at the end of the transition period businesses in any part of the UK may continue to place their goods in any part of the UK internal market without new restrictions.

I reassure members of the Committee that the overarching aim of the SI is to provide continuity for business, to ensure that following the end of the transition period exceptional standards of safety and quality for nutrition regulation will continue across the UK, and to reflect the obligations under the Northern Ireland protocol. I commend the draft regulations to the Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Edward Argar]

I am grateful to the shadow Minister, as always, for his tone, which is always reasonable and measured in these Committees. He will know that this is a technical amendment reflecting the fact that we signed a withdrawal agreement, and the Northern Ireland protocol was part of that. It reflects our commitment to deliver on that.

The shadow Minister spoke about the bigger picture. Negotiations are ongoing, and I would not wish to prejudge them. He is right to highlight the importance of the approach that has been taken. That applies to both sides, of course, and it is important that everyone negotiates openly and willingly and seeks to find a way forward. That is exactly what the Government are doing.

He talked about where we are on implementing other aspects of the Northern Ireland protocol pertinent to this Department, and about my responsibilities. As he rightly highlighted, it is important that we continue to work on implementing them, and I suspect he will have the pleasure in the coming months of more Committee meetings on delegated legislation such as this to reflect the other aspects of the Northern Ireland protocol that will need to be put into secondary legislation. He will see further developments on labelling, to which he referred.

He mentioned guidance and giving clarity to business. The updated guidance should be published later this month. There is already guidance, but it will be revised to reflect what industry said. We have increasingly put out updated guidance more broadly about the impact of the impending end of the transition period on different aspects of the Department’s work, and policy responsibilities that relate to Northern Ireland, the continuity of supply and a whole range of other things. We engage directly with the industry and individuals through a series of webinars, calls and a range of engagement activities. He is absolutely right that it is important to get the guidance up as soon as we can, which is what we are doing.

He asked about divergence. He is a colleague from the east midlands, and he knows that I am extremely fond of him, but I have been here too long to be tempted by him on that particular issue.

He asked about additional process, paperwork and burdens on industry. To reassure him, I repeat what I said in my opening remarks: there should be no additional process or paperwork flowing from this SI, so in our assessment there will not be a burden from it.

He also mentioned food labelling more broadly and the wider context. We are proud of our world-leading food health and animal welfare standards, not least those relating to nutrition. We will not lower our standards or put the UK’s biosecurity at risk as we negotiate new trade deals and as the transition period ends. We remain committed to promoting robust food standards, including nutritional standards, nationally and internationally to protect consumer interests.

I hope I have covered everything that the hon. Gentleman asked. If I have missed anything, I will, as always, drop him a note to cover it.

Question put and agreed to.