Unionist votes in Ards and North Down Borough Council carry the decision
A Northern Ireland council has chosen not to respond to a consultation by the Food Standards Agency, as part of a protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol.
A DUP councillor at Ards and North Down Borough Council said it was “fundamentally wrong” that local authorities were being asked to remove goods from the market in NI, goods that would be safe for marketing in Great Britain.
The Food Standards Agency, a non-ministerial department, responsible for food safety and food hygiene in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and nutrition policy in Northern Ireland, has produced guidance to support councils in identifying and taking action on “Grey Market Goods.”
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This refers to foods that do not meet UK food safety legislation, for example those not meeting UK requirements in terms of composition or labelling, like American candy, supplements, or Dubai chocolate.
Ards and North Down Council officers had prepared a response to the consultation, welcoming the guidance and providing feedback. However, at the council’s Active and Healthy Communities Committee on October 15, a proposal by SDLP Councillor Joe Boyle to approve and send the council officer corporate response to the consultation was blocked by unionist representatives, after a proposal by the DUP.
The DUP argued that the legislation underpinning the Food Standards Agency guidance supported the Northern Ireland Protocol – a post-Brexit agreement that kept Northern Ireland aligned with some EU rules to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland, but created trade barriers between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The Windsor Framework, an amendment to the Protocol adopted in 2023, aimed to resolve these issues by introducing a “green lane” for goods staying in Northern Ireland with fewer checks and a “red lane” for goods continuing to the EU. The DUP did not sign up to the Framework when it was published in March 2023, but did return to the NI Assembly after the “Safeguarding the Union” deal between the UK government and the DUP in January 2024.
At the October meeting of the full Ards and North Down Council on Wednesday (October 29), DUP Councillor James Cochrane proposed the council refuse to submit a response to the consultation. He told the chamber: “We will not support legislation policies or guidance that endorses the legal reality imposed by the Northern Ireland Protocol, that Northern Ireland remains tied to the EU single market for goods, while Great Britain’s rules can and will change.
“The draft guidance reflects that Northern Ireland is subject directly to applicable EU food law, and related enforcement, and that the European Commission is the authorising body for food additives. In our view, that is unacceptable, and as a result we do not support the corporate response provided.
“While the NI Retail Movement Scheme does exempt some food products from EU law, in a sense they can be made to EU standards and moved in Northern Ireland, this does not cover all products or movements. It is fundamentally wrong that local authorities should have any role in terms of moving goods from the market in NI that would otherwise move freely or be deemed safe for marketing in any other part of the United Kingdom.
“We recognise that the draft guidance is required, to be developed in the context of the current flawed political arrangements, but we cannot support it. It is too tied to the Protocol to be able to amend.”
Alliance Party Alderman Martin McRandal said at the meeting: “The officers obviously spend some time drafting responses to these consultations, for a reason. It is important that we on behalf of the residents of this borough have our say, so they can be considered in decision-making.
“I have no issue with the DUP protesting against the Windsor Framework or whatever, but I would suggest it can be done more effectively (elsewhere) than Ards and North Down Borough Council refusing to respond to this particular consultation.”
Ards and North Down Borough Council has the lowest nationalist representation of all 11 Northern Ireland councils – of the 40 seats in the chamber, only one is nationalist, an SDLP seat. In the current mandate, 14 seats are held by the DUP, 12 by Alliance, eight by the UUP, three independents, two of those unionist, and two seats are held by the Green Party.
On a vote, 21 members supported the DUP proposal not to respond to the consultation, including the DUP and UUP, while 10 voted against the proposal, from the Alliance Party and the Green Party, and one abstained.
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