The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has strongly criticised the UK government over abrupt changes to inspection rules affecting the movement of used agricultural machinery from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
Industry stakeholders were given just five working days' notice of the changes, with the government issuing an email on 13 June ahead of implementation on 23 June.
The UFU described the timeline as “utterly unacceptable” and pointed to a “fundamental failure in communication” from relevant departments.
The union's president William Irvine expressed deep frustration, accusing ministers of being out of touch with farming realities.
“The notion that our industry, already grappling with complex post-Brexit realities, can absorb such a drastic operational change with a paltry five working days’ warning is beyond absurd,” he said.
“It demonstrates an astonishing disconnect between policymakers and the gritty realities of farming life,” he added, criticising the government’s failure to communicate “these vital messages to those who actually move machinery between GB and NI.”
The union says the new requirements directly contradict assurances made by the government over a year ago.
These included continued use of the Northern Ireland Plant Health Label (NIPHL) for machinery remaining in Northern Ireland, expansion of the Plant Health Exports Audited Trader Scheme (PHEATS) for onward sales to the EU, and faster inspections by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).
“We were promised a ‘simple and easy to use’ NIPHL, with a ‘new communications campaign’ to ensure its benefits were well understood,” said Mr Irvine.
“We were told of extending the PHEATS scheme, allowing GB businesses to self-inspect for onward EU sales, or accelerated APHA inspections within two days for smaller volumes.
"These were solemn commitments, uttered by the government itself, to provide flexibility and ease. What we have witnessed, however, is a cynical dismantling of those assurances.”
The UFU also dismissed the government’s claim that the new checks are intended to improve UK-EU relations, saying the measures instead impose unnecessary hardship on Northern Irish businesses and consumers.
“The decision that machinery entering NI under the NIPHL can never enter the Republic of Ireland clearly demonstrates a profound lack of understanding about cross-border trade and the very nature of farms that straddle the border,” Mr Irvine said.
“This isn’t about protecting our island; it’s about bureaucratic overkill that fails to grasp basic agricultural and economic geography.”
The union warned that this episode reflects wider failings in how the Windsor Framework is being implemented.
It stressed that ongoing short-notice rule changes and broken promises continue to undermine trust and confidence within the agricultural sector.
