The rules for the movement of composite products from Great Britain (GB) to Northern Ireland (NI) and/or the European Union (EU) will change with the introduction of new EU Animal Health Regulations on the 21st April 2021.

A composite product is a food containing both processed products of animal origin and products of plant origin. Some of the changes that will take effect from 21st April 2021 include:

• Non-shelf stable products without meat and containing less than 50% of processed products of animal origin will now require a new official certificate; and 
• Shelf-stable products not containing meat products (except gelatine, collagen and highly refined products) and containing less than 50% of processed products of animal origin will require a new private attestation to accompany the composite products.

Businesses on the Authorised Trader list that are moving goods from GB to NI will not be required to complete new composites’ EHCs or private attestations until the relevant phase of compliance comes into effect from 1st October 2021. 

In the meantime, STAMNI (Scheme for Temporary Agri-food Movements to Northern Ireland) declarations will meet these requirements in line with the movement criteria. However, all such goods moved from GB to NI by Authorised Traders must comply with the regulatory requirements for production of composite products.

Further information to help you determine whether your product is a composite or not is available here. DEFRA is running a series of Q&A webinars to explain what these changes mean. Dates of the webinars and links to register are set out in a recently published DEFRA guidance note which is attached for your information. 

Latest DAERA guidance can be found here and further guidance will be provided in the lead up to 21st April 2021.