The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has slammed “bureaucratic overkill” which it has warned will impact cross border used agricultural machinery trade.
The UK Government requires that all movements of used agricultural and forestry machinery requires either a phytosanitary certificate or NI Plant Health Label (NIPHL).
If machinery or vehicles move to Northern Ireland for onward sale to the Republic of Ireland or other EU countries then full Official Controls Regulations (OCR) apply, and a phytosanitary certificate is required.
However according to the UFU significant changes to inspection requirements have now been introduced.
The union has accused the government of a showing ‘blatant disregard’ for NI’s agriculture sector.
It said government officials had given only five working days between the email and implementation of the new inspection requirements – a move which the UFU described as “a fundamental failure in communication“.
UFU president William Irvine said: “The notion that our industry, already grappling with complex post-Brexit realities, can absorb such a drastic operational change with a paltry five working days’ warning is beyond absurd.
“It demonstrates an astonishing disconnect between policymakers and the gritty realities of farming life.
“Government have proven themselves inadequate in communicating these vital messages to those who actually move machinery between GB and NI.”
Broken promises
The UFU said previous commitments from the government would allow dealers and farmers to continue benefiting from the Northern Ireland Plant Health Label (NIPHL) in regard to machinery staying in NI.
The UFU also highlighted that farmers or dealers looking to move machinery on further into the EU were promised simplified requirements via an extended Plant Health Exports Audited Trader Scheme (PHEATS) or accelerated Animal and Plant Health Agencies (APHA) inspections.
Irvine said: “These were solemn commitments, uttered by the government itself, to provide flexibility and ease.
“What we have witnessed, however, is a cynical dismantling of those assurances. Promises made over a year ago have been broken.”
The UFU president said the “lack of understanding” demonstrated by the government was underlined by the decision that machinery entering NI under the NIPHL can not enter the Republic of Ireland.
Irvine added that this lack of understanding is evident and highlighted that farms on the border take part in cross-border trade as part of their “nature”.
“This isn’t about protecting our island, it’s about bureaucratic overkill that fails to grasp basic agricultural and economic geography,” he added.
