Marks and Spencer<\/a>\u2019s chief executive has lambasted a key aspect of the Windsor Framework\u2019s final phase as “bureaucratic madness,” as over 1,000 products destined for Northern Ireland<\/a> will soon require “Not for EU<\/a>” labelling.<\/p>\n Stuart Machin revealed the significant operational challenge, describing the new requirement as “yet another layer of unnecessary costs and red tape for retailers.” <\/p>\n From next week, a substantial portion of M&S\u2019s product range for Northern Ireland will need these specific labels affixed.<\/p>\n The “Not for EU” labels have been progressively introduced since the post-Brexit trading deal, known as the Windsor Framework, was agreed in 2023. <\/p>\n This framework was negotiated between the UK<\/a> and the European Union to resolve complexities arising from the Northern Ireland Protocol<\/a>, which effectively maintains Northern Ireland within the EU\u2019s trade<\/a> orbit.<\/p>\n The stringent labelling rules are designed to prevent goods intended for the UK market from inadvertently entering the EU single market via the Republic of Ireland. <\/p>\n Despite the current friction, the UK Government recently indicated its expectation for a more streamlined flow of trade once its new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement with the EU is finalised.<\/p>\n Mr Machin indicated he was hopeful that the stickers may become unnecessary following the new deal.<\/p>\n He took to social media on Friday to express his frustration.<\/p>\n \u201cNext week sees the final phase of the Windsor Framework come into effect, adding yet another layer of unnecessary costs and red tape for food retailers like M&S. \u2013 1000+ M&S products destined for Northern Ireland will need to have a \u2018Not For EU\u2019 label stuck on them,\u201d he posted on the social media platform X.<\/p>\n \u201cAnother 400 will need to go through additional checks in the \u2018Red Lane\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cQuite frankly it\u2019s bureaucratic madness, confusing for customers, and completely unnecessary given the UK has some of the highest food standards in the world.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Government\u2019s SPS deal with the EU will be game-changing, and it can\u2019t come soon enough!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":219944,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-219943","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114758147479002555","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Marks and Spencer\u2019s chief executive Stuart Machin revealed that more than 1,000 M&S products destined for Northern Ireland will need to have a \u201cNot for EU\u201d sticker affixed from next week (M&S)<\/p>\n