Having consulted on plan to introduce “not for EU” labelling in Great Britain on a mandatory basis with effect from 1 October 2024, the Government has decided not to go ahead, although it will develop legislation to apply such labelling in the future “in a targeted way”, if there is evidence of need.
When the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) launched the consultation in February 2024, it explained that 1 October was the date proposed when all meat and dairy products would need to be labelled individually, with 1 July 2025 seeing the rules expanded to all retail goods in scope of Regulation (EU) 2023/1231 on specific rules relating to the entry into Northern Ireland from other parts of the UK.
The aim was to ensure that no incentive should arise for businesses to avoid placing goods on the Northern Ireland market.
Acting under the Windsor Framework agreed with the EU, the Government wanted to eliminate any physical checks when goods move within the UK internal market system without causing problems to the European Union of goods being moved from Northern Ireland to Ireland.
As agreed in the Windsor Framework, phase 2 of the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme (NIRMS) will begin from 1 October 2024.
With full details available HERE, this will bring more milk and dairy products into scope of the labelling requirement to move goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
From 1 July 2025, additional food products that move through NIRMS must be individually labelled. They include pet food, unprocessed fruit and vegetables, fish, eggs, honey and composite products, such as pizza.
