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Uncertainty about the future of the Northern Ireland protocol has led to a halt in the construction of specially designed inspection facilities in ports.
There will still be checks on agricultural and food products, but these will be carried out on existing buildings that have been reused for the pos-Brexi task, said the country’s agriculture minister.
DUP’s Gordon Lyons said that hiring of inspection staff for new port facilities in places like Belfast and Larne had been halted, with charges being applied to merchants bringing goods from Britain to North Ireland they were also archived.
Northern Ireland’s agriculture minister Gordon Lyons said he had halted construction
Lyons said his decision was based on “practical difficulties” caused by the protocol, which came as part of the UK’s trade deal with the EU.
The agreement reached saw the enactment of trade controls on products that North Ireland and Great Britain, however, these regulatory and customs controls were moved to the Irish Sea to avoid a border on the island of Ireland.
There has been a grace period since December 31, but there have still been disruptions in the transportation of grocery products and this could intensify when it ends on April 1.
Lyons said: “I have just informed my fellow executives that today I have 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.”
Other members of the Northern Ireland executive, which is made up of various political parties, have called an emergency meeting.
There have been calls for the Stormont-based Northern Ireland executive (pictured) to have an emergency meeting
It comes as unionist politicians called on the UK government to adopt unilateral action on the protocol.
Trade unionists are unhappy with the checks that need to be carried out on goods traveling between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, saying it opens an economic gap between the regions.
Lyons said: “We do not know what the movement of retail products from Great Britain to Northern Ireland will be like, we also do not have the support through the digital assistance scheme, and all the SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) problems around the end of the period of Grace are so uncertain and it’s a real nightmare for us and it’s going to cause us a lot of trouble. “
DUP Leader and Stormont Prime Minister Arlene Foster has called on the UK government to take unilateral action on the protocol.
The Social Democratic Labor Party (SDLP) has called an emergency meeting of the Northern Ireland national executive to discuss the matter.
SDLP Vice President and Northern Ireland Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon said: “I have requested an urgent Executive meeting tonight to address the unilateral action taken by Minister Gordon Lyons.
“This is a five-party executive facing two major crises: a global pandemic and the impact of Brexit.
“We should make decisions together in the substantial common interests of the people we represent, not use political office for divisive maneuvers.
“This decision is controversial, transversal and cannot be put into effect without an executive agreement.”
Michelle O’Neill, Deputy Prime Minister for Northern Ireland and a member of Sinn Fein, tweeted: “Earlier, when the former Minister of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs took a similar stance, his permanent secretary assumed executive responsibilities.
“The protocol is a consequence of Brexit. The DUP defended Brexit and must bear the consequences. Business and society need certainty, not acrobatics.”
The DUP has previously rejected claims that it is increasing tensions over the Irish Sea trade in an effort to ditch the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Analysis: This is more of a political move than a practical one.
By David Blevins, Ireland Senior Correspondent
The battle over the Northern Ireland protocol is intensifying, but at the moment it is more about political pressure than practicalities.
The controls required on agri-food products entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain have not stopped, well, not yet.
They have been held in temporary facilities in ports since the end of the transition period on New Year’s Eve.
But the DUP, which has the agriculture portfolio, has been under pressure from other unionist parties to allow those controls.
Arlene Foster’s party has now upped the ante by halting the construction of permanent posts and the hiring of inspectors.
The DUP wants Boris Johnson to invoke Article 16 of the withdrawal agreement, to effectively overwrite the Northern Ireland protocol.
The measure comes four weeks after the The EU threatened to invoke Article 16 “in error” about vaccine distribution.
