My Lords, there are two instruments in the group before you, both of which address requirements for the movement of goods subject to UK sanitary and phytosanitary controls. I will speak to each in turn.
The first is the Trade and Official Controls (Transitional Arrangements for Prior Notifications) (Amendment) Regulations 2021. This instrument delays the introduction of control measures for specific plant and animal product commodities. The EU exit regulations amended by this instrument addressed official controls on imports to Great Britain of animals and animal products, and plants and plant products, including food and other imports relevant to the agri-food chain, collectively known as sanitary and phytosanitary or SPS controls. Those regulations allowed retained EU law to remain operable in UK legislation after the end of the transition period following our exit from the European Union. For example, they removed references in legislation to the Commission and replaced them with references to the appropriate UK authority.
Having exited the European Union, we are implementing measures to bring EU imports into the same risk-based controls regime that we apply to imports from the rest of the world. A key element of the EU exit regulations is to set out a transitional period for the introduction of these controls on EU SPS imports into Great Britain. This is a temporary pragmatic step, made necessary due to the impact of Covid-19 on all businesses delivering import, control
and infrastructure services. The phased introduction of controls prioritises flow at the border and gives business and industry the necessary time to prepare for the full controls regime. It supports international trade and mitigates border disruption. Those regulations, made and brought into force in late 2020, set out phasing provisions in a number of separate instruments governing official controls, trade in animals and related products, and plant health, including provisions to introduce a first tranche of border controls for some specific plants and animal product commodities from 1 April 2021.
On 11 March 2021, the EU Exit Operations Cabinet Committee agreed that the dates for the introduction of these phased SPS border control checks should be extended while businesses are still dealing with the ongoing impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, which have significantly outlasted the estimates made in the third quarter of 2020, when the instruments in question were being drafted. We are therefore now amending the original regulations to revise the planned dates for the ongoing introduction of phased controls. We must ensure that these transitional provisions are reasonable and operable during and after the protracted period in which businesses and border operations continue to be adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. This phasing adjustment will enable businesses to familiarise themselves with the new SPS requirements and migrate to new IT systems. It will ensure that necessary infrastructure and processes are in place at border control points, further minimising the risk of any disruption. We will, in due course, introduce a further instrument to reset the later phases of import controls.
As a whole, these regulations will ensure that we continue to deliver robust, effective controls and checks on all food, animal and plant imports. This instrument does not introduce any policy changes, and the devolved Administrations have given their consent for these regulations to apply to the whole of Great Britain. We remain fully committed to the World Trade Organization and to our international trade obligations.
I now turn to the second instrument. The Plant Health etc. (Miscellaneous Fees) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2021 provides a fee exemption for phytosanitary certificates for exporting or re-exporting goods from England to Northern Ireland by amending certain fee regulations. These regulations set fees for delivery of plant health services in England by the Forestry Commission and Defra respectively. This includes fees for pre-export and export certification services required to comply with EU third-country entry requirements relating to plant health controlled material. All businesses that use these services are charged a fee to recover the cost of delivery.
The protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland means that Northern Ireland remains in the EU plant health regime. Therefore, all movements of regulated plants between GB and Northern Ireland must meet EU third-country requirements, including being accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate. If pre-exit fees related to production of phytosanitary certificates were not amended, they would apply in full to trade in regulated plants, plant products and other objects between England
and Northern Ireland. This would create additional costs to businesses when carrying out trade within the UK internal market.
Amendments are being made by this instrument to provide an exemption from the payment of fees for pre-export and export certification services where goods are moving from England to a business or private individual in Northern Ireland. The exemption also applies to movements of goods by private individuals in their passenger baggage. This SI applies to England only. Scotland has made parallel legislation and Wales plans to do so. This instrument will ensure that trade between England and Northern Ireland is not subject to additional plant health costs following the end of the transition period. The exempt costs will cover the application, examination, production and amendment of phytosanitary certificates and any associated inspections and testing that may be required in order to meet EU entry requirements.
The amendments introduced by this instrument do not include any policy changes. The instrument simply ensures that the current policy for intra-UK trade is maintained; that services for pre-export and export certification to third countries should not be an additional financial burden to businesses when moving goods within the UK internal market. These instruments ensure that we continue to deliver an effective imports system that guarantees our high standards of plant health and food and animal safety, while ensuring frictionless trading and movements. I beg to move.
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