{"id":7576,"date":"2021-03-19T17:08:18","date_gmt":"2021-03-19T16:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/science-nutrition.com\/?p=7576"},"modified":"2021-05-10T16:17:01","modified_gmt":"2021-05-10T15:17:01","slug":"brexit-know-time-will-tell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/science-nutrition.com\/en\/2021\/03\/19\/brexit-know-time-will-tell\/","title":{"rendered":"Brexit: what we do know, and what\u2026 only time will tell"},"content":{"rendered":"
The \u201cBrexit\u201d issue, meaning the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU), started taking shape in 2016, after a referendum on the topic reported a (close) majority for this option. The long and complicated negotiations that followed culminated in the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement (Agreement on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community), subscribed by both parties. In line with it, the UK lost its membership status starting from Exit Day (February 1st<\/sup> 2020). In order to allow institutions, citizens, and firms adapting to the new unfolding framework, a transition period of 11 months was set (until December 31st<\/sup> 2020). Since January 1st<\/sup> 2021<\/u>, \u201crehearsals\u201d are over and the new regimen is actually in place<\/u>.<\/p>\n

The new relationship between the EU and the UK: which agreements?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even though finding a deal has been hard (and seemed impossible at times), the two parties finally managed to find an understanding in December 2020; its terms are listed in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which will be further edited over the current year.<\/p>\n

The new framework foresees, among other points, a free-trade agreement<\/u> which eliminates custom tariffs and quotas. However, even such a measure is not sufficient to completely buffer the consequences of the withdrawal, as the UK has lost access to the European single market ; custom formalities will have to be performed, and exchanged products will have to comply to the dispositions of the importing country, as the two parties are now following two distinct paths concerning their legislative frameworks.<\/p>\n

What happens to food law?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Generally speaking, the UK could not just repeal all the regulatory texts generated by decades of EU membership, as they influence too much the actual domestic legislation. The country therefore decided to \u201cmerge\u201d EU law (as it was on December 31st<\/sup> 2020) to its own legislation, under the name of \u201cretained EU law\u201d. This manoeuvre could be realised through a few Acts which adapted European texts to the British context, for instance by substituting references to the European Commission with references to British authorities. The result of this choice is that, for the moment, macroscopic modifications of UK law are only a few. However, it will be best to stay alert, as all retained law, although originating from the Union, is now domestic legislation and, as such, is easily modifiable by the UK<\/u>.<\/p>\n

Food law, as many other domains, needs a parenthesis regarding Northern Ireland<\/u> (NI). This country, part of the UK, is situated on the same island as the Republic of Ireland, a European Union Member State. The consequences of Brexit risked to entail the setting of a hard border between the two countries, a scenario to be avoided at all costs. The solution has been found in establishing the Northern Ireland Protocol, a document (annexed to the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement) which provides that, for certain domains (including food law) European law will still directly apply in NI, despite Brexit.<\/p>\n

Therefore, the discussion about the evolution of British food law actually does not apply to the UK as a whole, but only to Wales, Scotland and England, the countries constituting Great Britain (GB).<\/p>\n

Will food law change in Great Britain<\/u>? As already stated, the macroscopic changes, for the time being, are not enormous: since GB retained EU law as it was at the end of last December, it hasn\u2019t really varied since, except for the changes directly deriving from the shift of \u201cadministrative\u201d framework (that is, the simple fact that the UK is no longer part of the EU). Such changes regard:<\/p>\n