My Lords, it is always with some sadness that we deal with a Northern Ireland issue, a part of this country that voted remain quite decisively yet is completely unrepresented in the other place. In fact, it is represented by a very extreme party of Brexit. However, we are where we are.
I say to the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, that in my Select Committee this morning we looked at the Faroe Isles FTA and have brought it to the special attention of the House. It would be quite useful to debate it on the Floor of the House, even though it is only our 144th trading partner worldwide.
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I thank the Minister for his excellent exposition of the SI. My first question is whether the island of Ireland will remain the single epidemiological—I always have difficulty in pronouncing that but I am sure Hansard will get it right—unit that it is at the moment, particularly given that the excellent state of disease
over there, which the Minister stressed, is much better in many ways than it is in the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe. It is very important—clearly organisms do not understand land borders—that that unit remains the same whatever the circumstances of Brexit or otherwise.
Some of these aquaculture plants are owned by foreign investors, some in France, and I will be interested to hear from the Minister what phytosanitary controls he expects the EU, France or wherever products are exported to will start on day one of Brexit, particularly if there is a no-deal Brexit, which is really what these SIs are about. It is particularly important that the systems are in place. I know we have discussed this before, but where are we on the UK replacement for TRACES and its interaction with EU systems? It will have a major effect on friction in trade and on exports of these products from the Province.
One of the reasons that there has been Norwegian investment in salmon farms in the UK is to avoid the EU external tariff on a number of aquaculture products. I will be interested to understand whether the Government have made any calculation of the tariffs that will be applied to these markets post Brexit, if we leave on so-called WTO terms, and the effect that will have on this industry.
Lastly, I was interested to see that the Secretary of State gave an effective undertaking at the NFU conference in Birmingham that tariffs will not be completely removed for the agricultural industry. Will aquaculture be included in that pledge?