McConalogue urges Agri-Food Exporters to continue their preparations for UK Import Controls

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue T.D., has today urged food business operators and agri-food exporters to continue preparations, and to make the necessary arrangements in good time, to meet new UK import control requirements, which will apply on a phased basis during 2022, starting from 1 July.

Speaking at the 27th meeting of the Consultative Committee of Stakeholders on Brexit, the Minister said:

“My department remains fully engaged with industry in preparing for these changes, and there is a range of activities on which both the department and industry are working in order to ensure that we are ready.”

The Minister emphasised that:

“The critical message to food businesses who are exporting to Britain remains to engage with their local Department supervisory teams on the detailed processes that will be necessary to ensure the most effective operating arrangements. ”

Commenting more generally on the resilience of the agri-food sector, Minister McConalogue noted:

“It is now over a year since the end of the Brexit transition period, and there is no doubt that this period has required businesses, citizens and Government authorities to adapt and make some significant adjustments to their business processes in order to address the consequences of Brexit. Despite all of these challenges, as the recently released full year trade statistics for 2021 show, agri-food exports to the UK have proved resilient, growing by 8.4% in value terms despite a slow start to the year. This trade performance in the face of Brexit, Covid 19 and global supply chain issues is a testament to the efforts of the industry in preparing to meet and address these significant challenges. We cannot, however, be complacent. Further impacts of Brexit are still to fully play out. Ireland-UK trade patterns are still evolving, and the complex, integrated agri-food supply chains between Ireland, Northern Ireland and Britain are still adjusting.”

The Minister also took the opportunity to remind Committee members of the upcoming closure of the Department’s ‘unregistered importers’ portal. He said:

“The unregistered importers portal, which facilitated the immediate transition to new Brexit import control arrangements in 2021, is now no longer fit for purpose, and is to be discontinued with effect from 15 March 2022. This been extensively communicated to all importers and other operators responsible for consignments, including through a recent webinar hosted by my Department. All such operators have been asked to complete formal registration with my Department, in order to ensure continued efficient import operations and payment processing. I am again reminding operators who have not done so to immediately register with my Department to ensure that there is no interruption or delay in the services provided by my Department.”

The Committee also received an update from the Department of Foreign Affairs on recent developments at EU level in respect of the EU-UK relationship, including the ongoing engagement on the implementation of the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol.

Note for Editors

Businesses can get in touch with the Department on any Brexit-related issues through:

• its dedicated email address: brexitcall@agriculture.gov.ie, or

• by telephone at (01) 607 2830.

Detailed advice and resources are also available on the Government of Ireland website at: https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/af50d-agriculture-and-brexit/?referrer=http://www.gov.ie/agriculture/brexit

The DAFM webinar “Update on changes to the INIS Portal for Importers " was recorded and is available to watch at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOw0S8tITCI

The latest version of the UK Border Operating Model is available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-border-operating-model www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-border-operating-model