Ms Hazel Sheridan:

I am happy to provide clarification for committee members on SPS checks and controls. There are two major controls. There is a requirement in EU legislation for the operator responsible to submit advanced notification. This is not necessarily the haulier. It is the person responsible for the importation. It could be the importer or someone to whom the importer delegates that responsibility. That is an EU system and it is an obligation. We have no discretion in that regard.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has built an internal information technology system designed to facilitate industry. The key facilitation in this system is that it enables importers to upload the health certification in advance. The advantage of that is twofold. The first is that for certain types of commodities, principally plants and plant products, this will allow for the checks to be carried out on the documentation in the system. Those consignments, therefore, will not have to stop in the port. To date, we have not had businesses making use of that system to the maximum extent. We will work with businesses to encourage them do so.

The second advantage of uploading documentation to the system and providing advance notification is that it enables us to see what is coming in. We can see if there are problems with what is coming in and then liaise with the operators responsible before the trucks arrive in the port.

None of us wants to be trying to resolve problems when the trucks are in the port because that leads to delays and it is the hauliers who suffer in those instances. Again, it is very important that we know who is responsible for these imports and that they engage with us. We are there 24-7 to provide support and are very keen for people to get in contact with us. We are prepared to work with them to resolve any issues.