At the Department of Agriculture, planning for export health certificates is to more than quadruple to 310,000 next year when Britain’s post-Brexit checks on Irish agrifood exports start.

The vast volume of red tape is being introduced on border controls covering about €5 billion worth of Irish meat, dairy and agricultural produce exports for the first time as Irish exporters feel the bureaucratic impact of the UK’s departure from the EU for the first time since Brexit.

EU checks on imports from Britain began on Irish ports in January 2021, when Brexit came into effect, but the UK will only start checks on imports of products from the EU on January 1st.

British checks on goods from the island of Ireland have been delayed temporarily, “until further notice”, pending the outcome of EU-UK talks over the Northern Ireland protocol, the post-Brexit trading rules applying to the North, but checks are still expected to come into force next year.

The Irish Times has more on the story.