Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to ensure that the decision not to extend the Movement Assistance Scheme a third time was compliant with his obligations under Section 46 of the Internal Market Act 2020.

The Movement Assistance Scheme (MAS) was always intended to be time limited. It was originally set up for a period of three months, and on review it was renewed for a further three months before being extended until December 2023. The decision to extend MAS until June 2025, to align with implementation of the Windsor Framework, was made public on 10th October 2023. There was never a suggestion it would extend beyond this date. MAS was created and extended to provide transitional support to businesses following the end of the transition period and during implementation of the Windsor Framework.

Defra remains committed to the ongoing support for Great Britain-Northern Ireland trade delivered through the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme and the Northern Ireland Plant Health Labelling Scheme, plus the ongoing work to reach an SPS agreement with the EU.