Irish Sea border: animal movements could be banned for more than two years - DAERA minister

Last month the News Letter reported that a movement ban – in place because of the blue tongue virus (Btv) – doesn’t extend to cattle travelling through the rest of the UK from France – highlighting the ongoing anomalies of the Irish Sea border.

Jim Allister has been seeking clarity on the matter from the DAERA minister Andrew Muir on behalf of farmers who have purchased animals in Scotland but aren’t allowed to bring them home because of the ban.

He said the minister’s response “confirms the dreadful situation NI farmers, with stock waiting to come from GB, have been placed by the absurd EU rules on blue tongue, which, according to the minister, could see livestock stranded for up to two years!

“This is beyond shocking and arises because of NI’s continuing subjection to EU law - despite political promises to the contrary!

“The absurdity of the situation is illustrated by the fact that cattle from France can come to NI through GB, but cattle from GB cannot. Farmers are being sacrificed on the alter of the supremacy of foolhardy EU law.

“The fact that the iniquitous Protocol is visiting this hardship on our farmers is illustrative of what has resulted from the surrender of sovereignty over these issues to the EU.”

Minister Muir’s response says that unless a regionalised scheme is introduced in Great Britain – movements from Scotland won’t be permitted.

The UK’s Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has previously confirmed that EU livestock can enter Northern Ireland via Great Britain as they are treated as ‘re-entering’ the EU – but British animals cannot.

That’s because movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland now adhere to the same rules as those governing movements from GB to the European Union.

An export health certificate is required to move animals from Great Britain to Northern Ireland or the EU.

Btv is endemic in parts of the EU. The whole territory of mainland France is a restricted zone for two strains of the virus, meaning susceptible livestock cannot be moved to Great Britain without prior vaccination. In November, one cow on a farm in Kent tested positive for Btv and there have been four further cases all located within a 10km Temporary Control Zone. There is no evidence that the virus is circulating in midges in Great Britain – which is how it spreads.