The Government has decided to extend the border arrangements which currently apply to goods moving from the island of Ireland to Great Britain while discussions on the Protocol are ongoing.
That means goods moving from the island of Ireland to Great Britain will continue to do so on the basis of the arrangements that apply currently until further notice; and will not, for now, be affected by the changes being introduced on 1 January for all other inbound goods. For plant health controls the result is that:
- The new pre-notification requirements being introduced on EU imports from 1 January 2022 will not apply to goods imported from the Republic of Ireland (ROI) to GB.
- Existing requirements for ‘high-priority’ plants remain unchanged, i.e. imports of these goods from the ROI to GB and indirect movements from Northern Ireland (NI) moved via the ROI to GB, will continue to require pre-notification, to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate, and will be subject to risk-based import checks.
- Direct movements from NI to GB of NI Qualifying plants and plant products, will continue to have unfettered access to GB.
What about trade from elsewhere in the EU?
Only NI and Irish goods travelling from the island of Ireland will qualify for this facilitation. This is in recognition of the unique nature of island of Ireland trade and its status as a single epidemiological unit while discussions with the EU are ongoing.
