The Northern Ireland Protocol
As part of the Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and the EU, the Northern Ireland Protocol (‘the Protocol’) was designed as a practical solution to avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland, whilst ensuring that the UK, including Northern Ireland, could leave the EU as a whole. Therefore, it included a number of special provisions which apply only in Northern Ireland from 1 January 2021. The Protocol is not codified as a permanent solution; it is designed to solve a particular set of problems and it can only do this in practice as long as it has the consent of the people of Northern Ireland, with the first vote taking place in 2024.
Prior informed consent (PIC) regulations
Under the Protocol, the EU PIC Regulation will apply in Northern Ireland, so:
- movements of listed chemicals between Northern Ireland and the EU are not considered as imports or exports under the EU PIC Regulation, and therefore the EU PIC Regulation does not apply to such shipments
- the export of a chemical listed in Annex I to the EU PIC Regulation from Northern Ireland to a third (non-EU) country has to comply with that Regulation, including the submission of export notifications via ePIC and, in the case of chemicals listed in Part 3 of Annex I to the EU PIC Regulation, the requirement to get explicit consent from the importing country
- the EU import responses for chemicals listed in Annex III to the Rotterdam Convention continue to apply to imports from third countries to Northern Ireland
- the EU is responsible for issuing replies to requests for explicit consent for movements of chemicals from Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) or third countries to Northern Ireland
- the information requirements set out in Article 10 of the EU PIC Regulation apply to businesses in Northern Ireland who move goods between Northern Ireland and Great Britain or a third country (non-EU country)
- the movement of chemicals listed in Annex I to the EU PIC Regulation from Northern Ireland to Great Britain must comply only with the rules of that Regulation that implement the Rotterdam Convention