NI agri-food sector calls on Minister Muir to withdraw NAP consultation

The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU), Dairy Council for Northern Ireland (DCNI), Northern Ireland Grain Trade Association (NIGTA), Northern Ireland Meat Exporters Association (NIMEA), Northern Ireland Food & Drink Association (NIFDA), Northern Ireland Pork & Bacon Forum (NIPBF), and Northern Ireland Poultry Industry Federation (NIPIF) – together representing the breadth of Northern Ireland’s agri-food economy – have expressed grave concerns about the lawfulness and fairness of the ongoing public consultation exercise.

The letter, issued by the organisations’ instructed solicitors, outlines several serious procedural flaws with the consultation exercise, including:

- Conflicting and unclear information about what is being proposed by the Minister.

- Failure to engage with farmers and stakeholders at the formative stage of policy development, despite repeated commitments in the Environmental Improvement Plan and the draft Programme for Government to co-design agricultural policy with the industry.

- Lack of access to supporting scientific evidence, with references to unpublished research and incomplete data sets in the consultation documents, making it impossible for consultees to adequately interrogate the rationale for the proposals.

- Technical issues and barriers to participation during public consultation events, including inconsistent messaging, lack of live Q&A, and inaccessible recordings.

- Absence of an economic impact assessment, despite the proposals’ likely significant impact on the viability of Northern Ireland’s farming and food production sectors.

The organisations argue that the consultation process, in its current form, is so fundamentally flawed that it cannot lawfully proceed. They are calling for the process to be withdrawn immediately and re-run following proper engagement with the sector.

“This is a good faith effort to ensure that a revised consultation is lawful, evidence-based, and meaningfully engages with the very people who will be most affected by these proposals,” said UFU president William Irvine.

“We’re asking for a fair process. The current consultation leaves too many unanswered questions and hasn’t meaningfully involved the people who will have to implement these proposals,” said Ian Stevenson, chief executive of NI Dairy Council.

Concluding, Mr Irvine added: "This is about getting the foundations right. You can’t build effective regulation on confused proposals and missing evidence. We want to work with DAERA to get to a solution that protects the environment and supports sustainable farming."

They have given the Minister seven days to respond, failing which they reserve the right to issue legal proceedings in the High Court. They say they remain open to constructive engagement to agree a fair way forward and would encourage the Minister to agree to withdraw the current consultation exercise in order avoid the need for litigation.