World Grain - April 2023 - 30

FEATURE: GRAINS SECTOR ADAPTS TO BREXIT CHALLENGES
are much more familiar to UK millers, " he explained.
The UK's exit from the EU is only one of the factors
that is having an adverse effect on the sector. The
COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine also have
had a significant impact.
" Is it all to do with Brexit? The Brexit thing is a catalyst
- to encourage people to look around, " Waugh
said. " Certainly, it hasn't been helpful in our sector. It
has complicated exports of processed foods, things like
pies and chicken nuggets. "
He noted that SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary)
checks were needed for meat, eggs and milk.
" Rules of origin also apply to a lesser extent to foods
coming into the UK, " he said.
Latest deal
The latest move in negotiations between the British
government and the European Commission may help
the sector. On Feb. 27, the two sides announced a deal
that the EU negotiators said would deal with " practical
challenges, " faced by Northern Ireland. The Windsor
Framework, which modifies, or, according to London,
replaces the Northern Ireland Protocol in the UK's
Withdrawal Agreement with the EU, was finalized on
the day Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
visited King Charles at Windsor Castle, to the west of
London. The Commission described it as " a comprehensive
set of joint solutions aimed at addressing, in a
definitive way, the practical challenges faced by citizens
and businesses in Northern Ireland, thereby providing
them with lasting certainty and predictability. "
Von der Leyen stressed that " supporting and protecting
the hard-earned gains of the Good Friday (Belfast)
Agreement was the prerequisite of our endeavor. "
Pressure from US President Joe Biden, a staunch believer
in the need to protect and preserve the agreement,
under which peace was achieved in Northern
Ireland, is widely understood to have played a role in
forcing the UK to come to a deal. There is speculation
that the American leader may signal his approval
shortly by visiting the UK.
30
One effect of the deal is the removal of a British
threat to tear up the protocol, by giving itself the supposed
legal power to make unilateral changes to the
international agreement. The UK's attitude had done
much to damage its credibility with other international
partners.
For food, the deal is based on separating products
destined for consumption in Northern Ireland from
those set to be exported to the Republic, and, therefore,
into the EU's Single Market. Foods for Northern Irish
consumers can be moved with " minimal certification
requirements and controls, " the Commission said. " UK
public health standards will apply for those agrifood
retail goods for end consumption in Northern Ireland,
whilst EU plant and animal health rules remain applicable
for the protection of the EU Single Market. "
There also will be a " trusted trader " scheme for goods
not at risk of entering the Single Market, making possible
" dramatically simplified procedures and drastically simplified
declarations with reduced data requirements. "
The deal also proposes a mechanism called the
" Stormont Brake, " a reference to the building in which
Northern Ireland's assembly meets. The legislature, in
which the largest party is the pro-Irish unification Sinn
Féin, currently doesn't meet because of a veto by the
far-right Democratic Unionist Party. Under the Brake,
the assembly could stop the working of the Framework,
something the Commission stresses would only be " under
the most exceptional circumstances. "
The major potential stumbling block on ratification
of the Windsor Framework is the attitude of the DUP,
which has a reputation for saying no to most things and
is said to be mulling the measure. On Feb. 28, its leader,
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, said the party would " want to
be sure that what is on the table does what it says and
that it is good for Northern Ireland. "
Also considering his attitude is former Prime Minister
Boris Johnson, who sold the Withdrawal Agreement as
an " oven ready deal " in 2019 to achieve reelection.
The spectacle of anti-EU Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
extolling the virtues of being in the Single Market to
April 2023 / World Grain / World-Grain.com
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World Grain - April 2023

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