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

To ask His Majesty's Government what instructions, if any, they have issued to (1) environmental health officers, and (2) other relevant officers, as to the future charging for port inspections on goods coming from Great Britain to Northern Ireland (a) in general, and (b) when the goods fail the inspection.

On 31 January 2024, the Government published the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper. It set out proposals for a new UK internal market system, ensuring a permanent, smooth flow of goods within the UK’s internal market.

Under this new system, there will be no checks on goods moving within the UK internal market system. Checks will only be conducted as part of a risk or intelligence-led approach to tackle issues like criminality, abuse of the system, smuggling and disease risks.

Following the agreement of the Windsor Framework, the Border Target Operating Model sets out new arrangements for Irish goods and non-qualifying goods moving directly from the island of Ireland to GB from 31 January 2024. Physical checks on goods arriving at West Coast ports will not begin before Spring 2025.

We will begin phasing in checks and controls for non-qualifying goods moving from the island of Ireland, while ensuring that Qualifying Northern Ireland Goods continue to have unfettered access to the GB market, whether those goods are moving directly from Northern Ireland to Great Britain or moving to Great Britain from Northern Ireland via Ireland.