British home nation faces vegan sausage roll ban under EU rules | UK | News
Vegan sausage rolls face a ban in Northern Ireland under Brexit rules unless manufacturers agree to rebrand with new names.
The European Parliament will vote on Wednesday on an amendment that will stop plant-based products being marketed using “meaty terms”.
Firms operating in Northern Ireland will need to dream up alternative names such as “tubes” or “discs” after conservative EU politicians pushed the measure to keep farmers happy. The news comes as the EU is warned that UK citizens face automatic huge fines from Sunday.
But Greggs Vegan Sausage Rolls will bypass EU naming restrictions thanks to a quirk in the Brexit Treaty, the Telegraph has learned.
Ulster politician regulatory chaos
Ulster Unionist Party MP Robin Swann said: “This regulatory nonsense highlights the need to scrap the Irish maritime border and ensure NI businesses operate in the UK, not the EU, the law.
“For those who remember the 1984 episode of the satirical television programme, the plot line that the EU would require British sausage to be renamed ’emulsified high fat offal tube’ appears to be fast becoming reality.”
Windsor Framework triggers restrictions
The ban comes due to the Windsor framework, which forces Northern Ireland to adhere to certain EU regulations that do not apply in the UK, including requirements on food labeling.
The agreement established the Irish maritime border and control of British goods and kept the land border with the Republic of Ireland open after Brexit.
Yet the same deal has created a loophole that means Greggs Vegan Sausage Rolls, along with similar products produced in the UK, can still be sold in Northern Ireland using standard UK branding.
Greggs produces the pastries in England before shipping them to 24 bakeries in Northern Ireland. Goods pass across the Irish Sea Border via the “Green Lane” for goods considered unlikely to be transported to Ireland, and the UK Trade Procedure for simplified customs procedures.
This regulation enables them to be sold in Northern Ireland as vegan sausage rolls under the Windsor framework provisions.
Political anger over Brussels control
Timothy Gaston, a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for the traditional unionist voice, said: “Once again Northern Ireland finds itself bound by rules that no Northern Ireland representative has made, subject to decisions they have not voted on.”
“While the European Parliament debates what a sausage roll might be called, businesses here should prepare for another layer of regulation that applies in Belfast but not in Birmingham.”
Mark Francois, chair of the Tory MPs’ European Research Group, said: “This shows that Hollow Labour’s very bad ‘EU reset’ involving the regulation of foodstuffs is indeed happening.
Parliament Crunch prepares for vote
The general vote in the European Parliament will take place on Wednesday. Predictions suggest that the centre-right European People’s Party, the largest group in Strasbourg, the hard right and some liberal MEPs will throw their weight behind the ban.
Such support would provide a majority for European conservatives, a gain over the greens and liberals.
MEPs clash over meat terminology
Céline Imart, the centre-right leading MEP who put forward the change, said: “Meat makes a steak – full stop. Using these names only for real meat keeps labels honest, protects farmers and preserves Europe’s culinary traditions.”
“This is a cultural war, and this is a cultural war started by the far right,” said Thomas Waitz, an Austrian MEP.
Stormont brake remains an option
The Northern Ireland Assembly has the power to delay the implementation of EU law by activating the “Stormont Brake”, provided it has sufficient support from members of the Legislative Assembly.
The tool has been triggered twice before, but on both occasions the UK government said it “did not meet the bar of having a significant impact specific to the day-to-day life of communities in Northern Ireland on an ongoing basis”.
A government spokesman said: “We will not comment on hypothetical scenarios or speculation.”
The European Commission has been asked for comment.
