My Lords, I am grateful to have the opportunity of speaking to these statutory instruments and to the Minister for his explanation of the regulations. I am also grateful for the easement of fees, as they were looking fairly formidable. There was a great deal of anxiety about the fees likely to be payable, particularly in a business like ours. I must declare an interest, as my family business is very much involved in the supply of flower bulbs to Northern Ireland for distribution throughout the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and elsewhere. In particular, the regulated arrangements made a great deal of difference to the position of a company such as Taylors. I am sorry to speak from personal experience, but I hope that, in a way, it makes my comments more relevant—although my interest in the business is now as an elder statesman. I am not responsible for day-to-day management anymore, but I know the concern that it has cost.
These statutory instruments all change dates. The first changes the date to 31 July. I notice that it also extends the regulations on plant health until December. I wonder what the position is after that. The second statutory instrument expires on 31 December so the concession on fees, as I read it, expires on 31 December, and from then on it looks as if those fees will in fact be charged. I hope that some accommodation can be made regarding the prohibitive cost of small parcels and mail order and, in our case, after-sales service after the principal order has been delivered. I read the reports of the First Delegated Legislation Committee
of the House of Commons, which met yesterday. They make for interesting reading. They certainly give a strong line on the importance of horticulture and the importance of the Northern Ireland market to British horticulture. I think noble Lords will agree that it is important that the United Kingdom has freedom of trade across all four nations. I know that this is a matter of negotiation; these concessions certainly help.
If I may, I will give an illustration of what happens to a flower bulb grown in Holland. It gets a field inspection in Holland. It gets a dry bulb inspection in Holland prior to export. It then gets a receipt dry bulb inspection in GB. Then, if it goes to Northern Ireland, it gets an export dry bulb inspection and must have a receipt dry bulb inspection in Northern Ireland. That is five inspections for one bulb. They are duplications of the same thing. A bulb is a dormant object. It is not a developing disease. It is not growing. It is being repacked in Great Britain for the purposes of distribution to retail outlets. The plant health certificate that is issued on its arrival in the UK lasts only 14 days; the packing process may take a month or two while consignments are gathered together.
It seems unnecessary bureaucracy to have to do all this. Even with some concessions as to how frequently the consignments will be inspected, it is still a considerable burden. I ask the Minister to bear that in mind and to seek ways of trying to negotiate arrangements whereby the industry does not have to have all this delay and difficulty for the genuine export of a product when previously it was sufficient for it to be sent on the basis of commercial trust from one producer to another and with a plant passport issued in the Netherlands. There is no difference to the bulbs and no difference to the care but an awful lot of increased delay and expense is involved.
Added to which, I know that the whole Northern Ireland trade business is a matter of considerable concern to the Government. I support them in their concern in this area. For example, we supply a large number of seed potatoes to Northern Ireland. At the moment, we are forbidden from sending seed potatoes from Scotland. These certified seed potatoes are inspected in Scotland and freely distributed throughout Great Britain but they are banned from Northern Ireland at the moment. I hope that it will be possible to get this matter resolved.
Only today, we had a Private Notice Question in the Chamber from my noble friend Lord Moylan concerning a cancer drug that is, as I am sure all noble Lords know, freely available in Great Britain but not available in Northern Ireland. This is a real cause for concern. If the United Kingdom is to mean anything, products that are available in one part of the United Kingdom should be available in another.
I support the regulations and am grateful for the concessions that they deliver. I would like to know whether there are time limits on those concessions. I hope that my general remarks have made it clear that there is a long way to go before we have anything like normal trading relations with our customers in Northern Ireland.
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