UK regulation to allow for completion of border posts at North's ports

Edwin Poots, the former DUP Agriculture Minister, had ordered in February 2022 that construction be halted.

The UK government has published a statutory instrument which would allow ministers to complete the construction of border posts at Northern Irish ports.

The Official Controls (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2023 published today will empower officials in Whitehall to expedite the building of such posts, despite this normally being a devolved power for the Northern Executive.

The posts had been due to be built by the Northern Irish Department of Agriculture, but in the absence of the Executive since last May's elections, the UK government has put forward new regulations to allow for their completion.

Edwin Poots, the former DUP Agriculture Minister, had ordered in February 2022 that construction be halted, a move found by a court to be illegal. UK minister for biosecurity Richard Benyon wrote to the UK's House of Lords in December to say that regulations would be needed through Westminster.

The statutory instrument says that the regulations come into effect on February 2 and only extend to Northern Ireland.

It adds that: "The Secretary of State may do anything that the Secretary of State considers appropriate for the purpose of implementing Article 64 of the Official Controls Regulation, in connection with the construction of facilities for the purpose of performing official controls.

"The Secretary of State may direct the competent authority to recruit and employ a sufficient number of suitably qualified staff to implement Article 64 of the Official Controls Regulation."

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The regulations add that the relevant authority "must comply with a direction... irrespective of whether any matter has been brought to the attention of, or discussed and agreed by, the Executive Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly".

The establishment of red and green lanes for goods due to leave the North for the Republic and be consumed in the North respectively is a key component of the Northern Ireland protocol. Mr Benyon has told the House of Lords that because EU checks on animal and food products would still apply to the red lane, the border checks are necessary.

An explanatory note on the guidelines says that "a full impact assessment has not been published for this instrument as no or minimal impact on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is foreseen".