It’s got less attention than it deserves but the govt is currently progressing a new law which it might have called ‘The Preventing Irish Sea Border Divergence Bill’. (The actual name is the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill) At the moment when the EU updates its product rules they will apply in Northern Ireland. There are safeguards in place which involve looking at the impact of those rules & potentially pausing or preventing their implementation eg. An applicability motion at Stormont.

The Kings Speech contains a Bill which is potentially consequential for the Windsor Framework as it suggests the new govt intends to make it quicker & easier for the UK to align with new EU regs & therefore minimise GB-NI divergence. From the summary. Currently we have Stormont’s Windsor Framework Ctte assessing a pipeline of EU legislation, trying to work out (at pace) what the impacts will be on NI & informing the process which could lead to the Stormont Brake being pulled.

This looks being the central plank of any deal. It’s only on internal UK trade matters that the govt has the room to do anything dramatic. Some readers may also recognise this as the rejigging of Theresa May’s unilateral commitments to NI in January 2019.

https://twitter.com/darranmarshall/status/1750282724470829087

At that time the PM effectively promised ‘where NI follows EU rules so will GB’. That was a big commitment & obviously came to nothing as May couldn’t get a deal through. Her successor instead imposed sharp divergence.

Speaking at QUB Windsor Framework workshop @AnnaJerzewska says the WF is ‘much better’ than NIP for customs but is still complex, self-evidently so when it takes about 20 minutes to explain the basics The trusted trader scheme is an improvement: easier for GB suppliers to use, higher de minimis for processors, the waiver/ reimbursement scheme for goods subsequently shown not to be at risk.

An interesting development: a UK supermarket chain which doesn’t trade in NI is setting up a supply chain in NI. Not mentioned in the piece but could be a hedge for when GB finally starts implementing a post-Brexit SPS border.

https://twitter.com/fjnorth/status/1649803745146880002

To elaborate: currently GB is barely enforcing SPS (agrifood) controls at its frontiers on EU goods. That’s due to change from October when certification will be required, ramping up to physical inspection over next couple of years.

The oft-delayed implementation of GB’s post-Brexit goods border has a new timetable: roll out will begin in Oct with full operation due by Oct 24 These bits are in bold to convince businesses that it’s really happening this time

Is the medicines issue sorted? Stormont’s Dept of Health says: ‘Officials are studying the agreement reached between the UKG and the EU and will be consulting with relevant stakeholders on the detail.’ Meanwhile a lot of the stakeholders in this area are convinced. The Healthcare Distribution Association say 'our main concerns on medicines supply have been addressed fully'

Goods moving in the green lane will still be subject to customs declarations, albeit much simplified. The deal has been welcomed by pharma & horticulture trade bodies. And one of the most persistent critics in retail is also on board bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northe… Much of the change will be phased in from this autumn up until 2025. That will include the development of red lane BCPs at the ports & product level labelling.

All 1500 members of STAMNI will be automatically
enrolled to the green lane system. Retailers, wholesalers, those moving goods for food service,
hospitality and public institutions such as schools and prisons will soon be able to join the scheme via a 'simple online form.' UK public health, marketing & organics standards will now apply for goods moved to NI through the green lane. This means that certain products banned in the EU (e.g. titanium dioxide, which is widely used in such iced cakes) will be able to 'move smoothly in products into NI.'

I had a chinwag from ChatGPT about the NI Protocol

Paul Williams of Teva UK gets to the heart of the major unresolved issue for the supply of medicines & the NI Protocol at the Lords today. It concerns Centralised Procedure (CP) licensing. Pharma licensing is complex. Without getting into what CP is we are now in a situation where medicines which were approved, pre-Brexit, for UK use via CP are facing a change.

NEW: Defra has confirmed that proper Border Control Posts will need to be constructed at Northern Ireland ports as part of the UK Govt’s unilateral green lane/ red lane plan. The BCPs will be needed to enforce EU agri-food rules for ‘red lane goods’. The need for proper BCPs, even under UK unilateral plans, has been implicit as far back as the Frost command paper in July 2021, though there has been a reluctance to spell out what this means in practice.

NEW: @beisgovuk has published a ministerial direction on the £600 energy scheme which includes some dates. It suggests the qualifying date is 2 January ie. whichever supplier you are with on this date is responsible for getting the money to you. It also mentions a ‘voucher validity period’ which runs from issue of the voucher until 31 March. Which suggests that all vouchers will have been issued in advance of that date & must have been cashed by then.

The precise wording of EU regulations do not require GB food products to be checked when entering Northern Ireland, a court has been told. The argument was made by a barrister representing the Stormont Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots. John Larkin KC told the High Court in Belfast that the issue hinges on the wording of the Official Control Regulations (OCR), the EU's rules covering agri-food.

Ulster Bank economist Richard Ramsey suggesting it's now a pretty safe assumption that the Protocol has boosted food manufacturing in NI: food & beverage output amongst NI manufacturers has increased by 18.3% since Q1 2021, x2.5 the comparable growth rate amongst UK firms. This makes sense as moving food across the sea border, to Belfast or Dublin, is the most regulatory onerous transaction so there is local substitution of GB goods. However Ulster Uni economist Esmond Birnie has suggested this could be 'wrong sort of growth'

To explain one element of the new EU infringement proceedings. It concerns NI-GB movements. In the Protocol, as originally agreed, exit summary declarations (EXS) were required GB-NI. These aren’t the same as customs decs but are a ‘fetter’.

An interesting opening to the NI Affairs Ctte in which Prof Alan Boyle says the Protocol Bill doesn’t breach international law because of Art 16. But he is ‘aghast’ that HMG is citing necessity which amounts to an admission of a beach. Though of course the govt is NOT using Art 16, the Foreign Sec having told the Belfast Telegraph it wouldn’t be enough, but it is using necessity.

Caterpillar, the manufacturing firm, is making a 'take it or leave it' pay offer directly to its Northern Ireland workforce after failing to reach agreement with a trade union. Members of the Unite union, employed by the firm in Larne and Belfast, have been striking since April. Caterpillar says it is going directly to the workforce because a 14 month process has not produced a resolution. The company has emphasised that it is not attempting to de-recognise the union.

The UK government has published details of how it intends to regulate medical devices now that it is outside the EU's regulatory regime. A big part is replacing CE marking with UKCA marking. gov.uk/government/new… Northern Ireland is still subject to EU regulations: The EU Medical Devices Regulation (2017/745) (EU MDR) therefore took effect in NI on 26 May 2021 & the in vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation (2017/746) (EU IVDR) took effect from 26 May 2022.

Alongside today’s parliamentary debate the government will be starting ‘structured engagements with the business community’ ie. trying to work out how their proposals could work in practice. Foreign Office is hosting initial meeting today thought NI groups are just joining remotely. Liz Truss expected to make a brief opening address.

A skim of the EU's SPS & customs position papers, which are an update on the October non-papers, show quite a bit more detail on customs, including a form which lists the 21 fields required as part of the 'super reduced data set' Also the proposal for a 'single simplified monthly form with transaction-based customs information based on the trusted traders’ internal records' there in black & white this time (weirdly last time it was just alluded to in an infographic)