Stuart Machin, the chief executive of Marks & Spencer, has criticised new labelling rules for goods sent from mainland UK to Northern Ireland as 'bureaucratic madness'. From next week, the retailer must label 1,000 more products with 'not for EU' labels and subject 400 items to additional checks.
The 'not for EU' labels are designed to prevent British goods from leaking into the Republic of Ireland, an EU member. Machin described the change as 'another layer of unnecessary costs and red tape for food retailers like M&S'. He added that it is 'confusing for customers and completely unnecessary given the UK has some of the highest food standards in the world'.
The new requirements come ahead of a deal between the UK government and the EU to remove sanitary and phytosanitary checks on farm exports. The details of this deal, announced in May, are still being finalised and may take up to a year to implement. Machin welcomed the deal, calling it 'gamechanging'.
The Windsor Framework, which came into force in March 2023, aimed to ease post-Brexit trade arrangements. However, its final phase from 1 July expands labelling requirements beyond meat and fresh dairy to more products. Some items like unpackaged fruit, vegetables, confectionery, and coffee are exempt.
M&S has previously reported significant costs from Brexit trade changes, adding about £30m to its operations on the island of Ireland in 2021. The company has since adjusted its supply chains to mitigate these costs.
