Draft Fertilisers and Ammonium Nitrate Material (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2021

Victoria Prentis Excerpts

Thursday 11th February 2021 General Committees

[The Chair]

Before we begin, I remind Members to observe social distancing and to sit only in places that are clearly marked. Mr Speaker has stated that masks should be worn in Committee, except when Members are speaking. Hansard colleagues would be most grateful if Members will send their speaking notes to [e-mail].

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Victoria Prentis)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Fertilisers and Ammonium Nitrate Material (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2021.

It is a pleasure to serve once again under your chairmanship, Mr Robertson.

The draft statutory instrument, which was laid before the House on 9 December 2020, has two main purposes. First, it will make technical amendments to the Fertilisers and Ammonium Nitrate Material (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, to correct certain inconsistencies that have arisen in the light of the Northern Ireland protocol. Secondly, it will apply the provisions of the retained EU law version of regulation 2003/2003 to Northern Ireland, subject to modifications. That will enable the marketing of UK fertilisers in Northern Ireland, which was the intention of the original exit SI before the Northern Ireland protocol was agreed.

The previous SI was made in 2019. It replaced the “EC fertiliser” label with a new “UK fertiliser” label, which was to function in the same way. That “UK fertiliser” regime would have operated across the whole of the UK from the end of the transition period. However, we agreed the Northern Ireland Protocol and, as a consequence, the SI needs to be updated. This draft instrument will apply the provisions of the retained EU law version of regulation 2003/2003 in Great Britain to Northern Ireland, subject to modifications, in order to enable UK fertilisers to continue to be marketed in Northern Ireland.

By way of context, the regulatory framework for the manufacture and sale of fertilisers is unusual compared with that of other agricultural products, as fertilisers are partially harmonised at EU level. That means that member states may operate their own domestic regulatory regimes alongside the European regulation of the EC fertiliser regime, which is provided for in EU regulation. Accordingly, alongside the EC fertiliser regime, Great Britain and Northern Ireland have historically operated separate domestic regulatory regimes under the Fertilisers Regulations 1991 and the Fertilisers Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992, respectively.

Manufacturers in both GB and NI, therefore, have several routes to market and are free to choose which framework to use, although they must of course comply with the requirements of whichever regime is chosen. For example, they would need to be established within the EU or NI to sell EC fertilisers in Northern Ireland. The key provision of the draft instrument is to ensure the retained GB version of EU regulation 2003/2003, which allows products to be marketed as a UK fertiliser, applies in Northern Ireland, as was originally intended in the 2019 exit SI.

Given the partial harmonisation of fertiliser legislation, making the UK fertiliser regime applicable in Northern Ireland does not affect the continued application of the EU version of regulation 2003/2003, which will continue to apply in Northern Ireland by virtue of the protocol.

The draft SI is important, as a common route to market across the UK for fertilisers is required, so that a manufacturer in Great Britain who only trades in the UK may market products across Great Britain and Northern Ireland and use one label to do so. Although there are several routes to market for UK producers, there are particular concerns that, without this SI, the supply of certain products that are regulated under this regime—for example DMPSA, a nitrification inhibitor—would be reduced and that in turn could impact on the sustainability of UK food production.

We worked with the devolved Administrations on this SI, and they have given consent. The draft instrument is necessary, as I have explained, because it makes technical amendments in the light of the Northern Ireland protocol and will ensure that we can continue to operate a unified fertiliser regime across the UK. It will make life easier for manufacturers because they will be able to use one label. I commend the draft regulations to the House.

--- Later in debate ---

[Victoria Prentis]

I am pleased that the hon. Gentleman has been in touch with the Agricultural Industries Confederation, which is of course the body that is most involved in this area. We work with it very closely as a Department. I will deal first with the detonation resistance test issue. We have passed legislation that allows the DRTs to be accepted, if they originate in the EU, until December 2022. That should give us time to conduct our reviews, and I will briefly set out a bit about where we intend policy to go.

We feel that the existing domestic regulatory regime for fertilisers in both GB and NI is outdated and in need of some modernisation. Leaving the EU and the current modernisation of regulation that the EU is conducting at the moment, which I think is due to be published in July 2022, gives us an opportunity to undertake a full review of our domestic framework. I would enjoy talking further to the hon. Gentleman about that outside the Committee.

Although I do not speak with the elegance of the Minister in the Lords, I do not think we will necessarily be following the American model or the EU model. We will go for the UK model in future. As I said in my opening speech, fertiliser regulation is quite unusual, because there has always been both a domestic set of regulations and an EU set of regulations. In many ways, perhaps it can provide a model for other types of regulations that are open to us in the future, so I do not think there is any need to take either one path. What is important is that we work with the Agricultural Industries Confederation, farmers and growers, and that we make the best regime for us in the future.

New powers relating to fertilisers in the Agriculture Act 2020 mean that we are now well placed to take forward the new work. We are starting the process of engagement with growers at the moment. We will of course undertake a public consultation to inform our views of where the legislation should go.

We began the process of review by considering how to use the provisions of the fertilising products regulation that became retained EU law to put in place a conformity assessment framework for fertiliser manufacture in the UK going forward. New policy will be informed by the findings of the nutrient management expert group, which has been tasked with identifying evidence-based options for reducing diffuse pollution by fertilisers, for example. We aim to have done a full consultation on the options by the end of this year. The final framework should become fully operational in the next few years.

I was asked about divergence specifically. I have dealt with that partially, but I will say that we will work with growers and other stakeholders and then consult on our new regulations. That will take into account any potential risks and impacts of divergence from EU rules. Any potential divergence is likely to be connected to some of the very detailed and technical requirements around fertiliser content and guidance on usage. As I said right at the beginning, there has always been a level of what I call divergence, for want of a better of word—a level of difference—in the regulatory regimes in this area.

[Daniel Zeichner]

I accept that point, but surely the difference will be that, should we end up with a different set of rules in future, that will create a different regime for Northern Ireland, inevitably. Will that not inevitably lead to additional cost—not immediately, but after 2022?

[Victoria Prentis]

I do not feel that our trade and future relationship with the EU should be affected by the extension of the “UK fertiliser” terminology to Northern Ireland. The EU fertilisers regulation will continue to apply directly to Northern Ireland by virtue of the NIP, so trade in EC fertilisers will continue in Northern Ireland. I think that is without prejudice to the EU’s fertilisers regime.

We will look at all such matters closely. Fertilisers are quite special in the way that they have been regulated in the past. It is important that we work with the industry to make our new regulatory framework, and I have no doubt that we will be able to do that in a perfectly satisfactory way.

With that, I commend the draft regulations to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.