Delay to soil ban is welcomed, but DUP say Northern Ireland needs more than a ‘short-term fix’

Arlene Foster has welcomed the UK’s unilateral delay to a contentious Brexit arrangement which has disrupted trade between GB and Northern Ireland, but said “short-term fixes are not enough”.
By Mark Rainey
Published 6th Mar 2021, 07:30 BST
Updated 6th Mar 2021, 08:13 BST
Robin Mercer, owner of the Hillmount Garden Centre at Gilnahirk, said the delay to the soil ban is “just one piece of the jigsaw” in dealing with the problem with importing plants from Great BritainRobin Mercer, owner of the Hillmount Garden Centre at Gilnahirk, said the delay to the soil ban is “just one piece of the jigsaw” in dealing with the problem with importing plants from Great Britain
Robin Mercer, owner of the Hillmount Garden Centre at Gilnahirk, said the delay to the soil ban is “just one piece of the jigsaw” in dealing with the problem with importing plants from Great Britain

The DUP leader was commenting after the temporary lifting of the NI Protocol measure that prevented the movement of plants potted in soil across the Irish Sea.

“The presence of soil from GB on machinery should never have impeded its movement from one part of the UK to another. We have been pressing the government to deal with this absurdity. This progress is good news for those impacted but there needs to be more,” she said.

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Mrs Foster added: “The temporary fix by the government shows they are listening, and aware of the problems being created by the Protocol, but short-term fixes are not enough. Northern Ireland needs permanent solutions, and the protocol needs to be replaced.

“The prime minster promised the unfettered flow of goods from GB to NI and the Government must now deliver on that commitment.”

Robin Mercer of Hillmount Garden Centre near Belfast also welcomed the delay, but described it as “one piece of the jigsaw”.

He said: “I’ve been campaigning tirelessly for some sense to be made of the rules for business owners as we are finding the new rules so limiting. Whilst we may be permitted to bring plants with soil attached into NI from GB, we are not actually permitted under the current lockdown to be open to sell them”.

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Ulster Unionist MLA Rosemary Barton welcomed the delay to a ban she described as “one of the most ludicrous outworkings” of the NI Protocol.

The party’s spokeswoman on agriculture said: “Today’s news that the UK Government has acted and taken what it describes as ‘temporary, practical arrangements’... will be well received by our local horticultural industry.

“Further, the permitting of the movement of plants grown in containers with soil attached from authorised businesses in GB to Northern Ireland, will enable the GB businesses to trade again and the Northern Ireland businesses to stock up for the spring.”

The EU is taking legal action, accusing the UK of breaching the protocol. But, writing in Saturday’s News Letter, the NI Secretary Brandon Lewis says the UK acted due to the EU’s “leisurely approach” to protocol problems.

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Although Prime Minster Boris Johnson promised the unfettered flow of goods from GB to Northern Ireland, that has not been the case to date.

While most agri-food goods are currently, or soon will be, subject to extra regulatory procedures to enter Northern Ireland under the terms of the protocol, some have been banned altogether.

The list of prohibited goods includes plants or vegetables potted in British soil, or with traces of soil still attached to them.

Critics of EU bureaucracy have slammed the protocol stipulations as excessive and disproportionate.

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Related topics:Arlene FosterNorthern IrelandUK GovernmentRosemary BartonBrexit