The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) says it wants to see pragmatic solutions being found to ensure the Northern Ireland (NI) Protocol is workable for every farming sector in NI, because while certain elements have been working, it is creating some difficulties within the UK internal market.
UFU president David Brown said, “We want to see ongoing negotiations on the NI Protocol settled with immediate effect to address the series of issues it’s creating. The UFU represents farmers across all agri sectors in NI and while some parts of the NI Protocol are working for several commodities, it is causing havoc for others. This is due to NI remaining within the European Union (EU) regulatory zone, while Great Britain (GB) is considered a ‘third country’ outside the EU, creating restrictions and checks on agricultural produce, animals and plants moving from GB to NI. Pragmatic solutions need to be found to make the NI Protocol work for agriculture in its entirety, and as one of NI’s largest and most economically valuable sectors, it’s in government’s best interests to deliver on this immediately.”
The UFU have been raising issues about the NI Protocol for the past eighteen months, and to date, the industry has brought forward many solutions to the problems.
“The UFU recognise the vitality of access to both GB and the EU. We’ve been lobbying politicians for months on the NI Protocol and were promised the best of both worlds, sold on the idea that farmers would have unfettered access to GB and EU markets. However, in specific areas we’ve ended up in no man’s land, unable to use products from GB and equally unable to switch to Republic of Ireland inputs as they’re not licensed in the UK.
“The time for playing the blame game has long passed and it’s our primary producers who are paying the price for these issues going unresolved. The impact it is having on their farm business is getting completely forgotten. All the political parties recognise there are specific issues for agriculture that need resolved. Negotiated solutions are vital for our industry, and it’s about time both sides came together to deliver them,” said Mr Brown.
