Northern Ireland minister calls for food border checks to end at midnight as Brexit row heats up
Irish Sea border checks on British agri-food exports to Northern Ireland have been ordered to stop from midnight tonight by the Democratic Unionist Party, undermining the hard Irish border.
Agriculture minister Edwin Poots has called on his officials to halt the checks, which are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Poots has initially made the threat last week, and sought legal advice on the matter.
“I have taken legal advice in relation to my position from senior counsel. Earlier today, I received that legal advice,” he told the Stormont assembly.
“The advice concluded that I can direct the checks to cease in the absence of executive approval.
“I have now issued a formal instruction to my permanent secretary to halt all checks that were not in place on 31 December 2020 from midnight tonight.”
The checks on food and agriculture products came into force as a result of the Northern Ireland protocol signed by Boris Johnson and the EU.
Nonetheless, many of the checks, including those on chilled foods and meats such as British sausages, have not been implemented after unilateral action taken by the former Brexit minister Lord Frost.