[ad_1]
The Northern Ireland Minister of Agriculture has halted the construction of permanent inspection facilities for post-Brexit checks of agri-food products arriving from Great Britain.
DUP Minister Gordon Lyons also halted the hiring of inspection staff for port facilities and ordered an end to charges levied at ports on merchants bringing goods from Britain to Northern Ireland.
Ongoing commercial controls of the Irish Sea, which are being carried out on existing repurposed port buildings and other temporary facilities, will continue.
Mr Lyons’ decision relates to ongoing work on specially constructed new inspection facilities in ports such as Belfast and Larne.
Lyons told the Palestinian Authority news agency: “I just informed my fellow executives that today I instructed my department to stop work on a number of issues related to work in ports.
“This is in and around a number of areas, first of all the additional infrastructure, any construction of additional infrastructure; the additional hiring of personnel; and also the loading at the ports.”
The decisions come amid ongoing controversy over the disruption caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol, which governs Irish Sea trade after Brexit.
Trade unionists are angry at the protocol’s requirement to control many goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.
They claim that it has created an economic gap between this country and Great Britain and, as a result, has undermined the union.
Lyons said his move was in response to “practical difficulties” caused by the protocol.
He cited the uncertainty over the movement of goods when the grace periods currently limiting the protocol bureaucracy end in early April.
He said: “We don’t know what the movement of retail products from Britain to Northern Ireland will be like, we also don’t have the support through the digital assistance scheme, and all the SPS (Sanitary and Phytosanitary Issues) around the end of the grace period. they are so uncertain and it is a real nightmare for us and it is going to cause us a lot of problems. ”
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said the DUP “cannot choose” what executive leadership duties and obligations it wants to fulfill.
The deputy leader of the party, Nichola Mallon, has requested an emergency meeting of the Stormont Executive, as the measure cannot be put into effect with the Executive’s agreement.
“Over the course of the past few months, the SDLP has been working hard to solve the challenges companies face as a result of changes in post-Brexit business relationships,” Eastwood said.
He added: “We have put our shoulders behind the wheel to explore new opportunities and maximize the benefits of the new settlement. We have done so in a spirit of cooperation and partnership.
“It is deeply concerning that the DUP ministers are actively trying to sabotage the deals and inject more uncertainty into a difficult situation for local businesses to suit their own narrow political interests.”
[ad_2]