UK border controls for Irish agri food exporters started coming into effect from Wednesday, 31 January.

From now on, all goods with an animal or plant origin will have to be accompanied by a veterinary health certificate, unless they are classified as low risk by the UK authorities.

Details of the goods being exported are logged on the UK customs control system.

The second stage of the UK introduction of border controls will follow at the end of April, when physical checks are due to commence.

Despite having been postponed on five previous occasions, there are still doubts about the UK state of readiness for border controls.

The British Meat Processors Association is on record as saying that there could be disruption to meat flows into the UK from EU countries, particularly from mainland European countries at weekends, due to a scarcity of veterinarians for signing certificates.

Veterinary certification

While the requirement of a veterinary certificate to accompany each transaction will be an administrative burden and cost, large Irish agri food exporters are equipped to manage the additional bureaucracy. They are already familiar with this procedure for exports beyond the EU single market and, in effect, the new UK rules mean that exporting from Ireland to the UK will involve the same certification process as exporting to American or Asian markets.

Meat Industry Ireland director, Dale Crammond told the Irish Farmers Journal this week that “there has been significant engagement between our members and the Department at a local level over recent weeks, and despite the requirement for export certification, we are confident that the process will run smoothly”.

While large-scale Irish exporters are expected to adapt quickly to the new rules, it will be a much bigger problem for small volume, speciality exporters. The same type of veterinary certification is required for a 1kg consignment as for a 20t container.

Smaller business also rely on groupage transport and the administrative burden and cost are likely to persuade many small exporters that the business is no longer viable, as was the case for UK exporters when the EU introduced its border controls – when the UK left the single market in January 2021.

For dairy exporters, most dairy products are considered as low-risk by the UK authorities and, therefore, won’t require certification.

EU border controls

Ireland, like other EU member states, has had full border controls in place for goods entering from the UK since the beginning of January 2021. While customs controls will continue for so long as the UK remains outside the Customs Union, it is possible that sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls, which require the veterinary certificates, could be eliminated if a future UK government chooses to enter a veterinary agreement with the EU.

That is the official policy of the UK Labour Party, which is currently favourite to win the general election, due towards the end of this year.