United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nigel Martin Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): I have several pages of amendments and clauses that I will put before the House. At this stage, may I reiterate the Speaker’s stricture? I will do this now, and I will do it again before the vote, but people are normally already moving when we do this just before the vote, and nobody is moving at the moment, so I have a captive audience. I therefore use this time to re-emphasise that if Divisions take place on any of the clauses, new clauses or amendments, the Front Benchers can go towards the exit in front of me to vote and use the card readers. Let us hope that they are working this time; they should be. Everybody else, please—calmly and with social distancing—leave through the exit behind me and make your way towards Westminster Hall, where you will do a socially distanced conga towards the Division Lobbies to present your cards to the readers. I hope that that is understood Question put and agreed to. Clause 1 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 2 The mutual recognition principle for goods Amendments made: 90, page 2, line 6, leave out paragraph (b) and insert— "(b) can be sold there without contravening any relevant requirements that would apply to their sale," The amendment makes a drafting correction to clause 2(1)(b) to cater more clearly for relevant requirements that take the form of a prohibition. The new wording means that the previous reference in parenthesis to a case where there are no relevant requirements is no longer necessary. Amendment 91, page 2, line 15, leave out from "can" to end of line 17 and insert "be sold by auction in the originating part without contravening any applicable relevant requirements there".—(Michael Tomlinson.) The amendment makes clause 2|(2) conform to the wording of clause 2)1)(b) as amended by Amendment 90. Clause 2, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clauses 3 to 10 ordered to stand part of the Bill. Schedule 1 Exclusion from market access principles Amendments made: 5, page 42, line 5, leave out from "The" to "not" on line 6 and insert "United Kingdom market access principles do not apply to (and sections 2(3) and 5(3) do" This amendment means that measures aimed at preventing the spread of pests or diseases are capable of being excluded from the non-discrimination principle for goods (as well as the mutual recognition principle for goods). Amendment 6, page 42, line 26, at end insert— "(6A) In determining whether the fifth condition is met the following consideration is to be taken into account: whether the legislation, taken together with any similar legislation applying in the restricting part, imposes measures of similar severity in response to threats of similar severity arising from the potential movement of the pest or disease into, or within, the restricting part (wherever those threats originate)." This amendment means that, in assessing whether a measure aimed at preventing the spread of pests or diseases can reasonably be justified as necessary, account will be taken of whether similar threats are addressed with similar severity. Amendment 7, page 45, line 2, at end insert— "Fertilisers and pesticides 8A The mutual recognition principle for goods does not apply to (and section 2(3) does not affect the operation of) any of the following— (a) a prohibition or condition imposed in accordance with Article 15(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2003/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 relating to fertilisers, as it forms part of retained EU law; (b) regulations under section 74A(1) of the Agriculture Act 1970, to the extent that such regulations can reasonably be justified as a response to a risk to— (i) the health or safety of humans, animals or plants, or (ii) the environment 8B The mutual recognition principle for goods does not apply to (and section 2(3) does not affect the operation of) any of the following— (a) Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market (etc), as it forms part of retained EU law; (b) the Plant Protection Products Regulations 2011 (S.I. 2011/2131); (c) the Plant Protection Products Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011 (S.R. (N.I.) 2011 No. 295)."—(Michael Tomlinson.) This amendment excludes certain measures in relation to fertilisers and pesticides from the operation of the mutual recognition principle for goods. Schedule 1, as amended, agreed to. Clauses 12 and 13 ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 14 Interpretation of other expressions used in Part 1 Amendments made: 93, page 8, line 38, after "thing" insert "(including any packaging or label)" The amendment clarifies that "goods" for the purposes of Part 1 includes their packaging and any label attached to them. Amendment 94, page 8, line 41, leave out "significant regulated step in their production" and insert "significant production step which is a regulated step" The amendment, with Amendment 95 clarifies the rule for determining whether goods have been produced in a part of the United Kingdom for the purposes of Part 1. Amendment 95, page 9, line 1, leave out subsection (4) and insert— "(4) A production step occurring in a part of the United Kingdom is "regulated" for the purposes of subsection (3) if — (a) it is the subject of any statutory requirement in that part of the United Kingdom, or (b) it is a step that could materially affect a person’s ability to sell the goods without contravening— (i) any relevant requirement for the purposes of the mutual recognition principle for goods, or (ii) any statutory requirement that is excluded from being a relevant requirement by section 4(1), that would be applicable to a sale of the goods in that part of the United Kingdom (being a sale of a kind for which the goods are being produced) (4A) A production step is "significant" for the purposes of subsection (3) if it is significant in terms of the character of the goods being produced and the purposes for which they are to be sold or used (but see subsections (4B) and (4C)) (4B) A production step falling within any of the following descriptions is not significant (whether or not it is regulated)— (a) activities carried out specifically to ensure goods do not deteriorate before being sold (such as maintaining them at or below a particular temperature); (b) activities carried out solely for purposes relevant to their presentation for sale (such as cleaning or pressing fabrics or sorting different coloured items for packaging together); (c) activities involving a communication of any kind with a regulatory or trade body (such as registering the goods or notifying the goods or anything connected with them or their production); (d) activities carried out for the purpose of testing or assessing any characteristic of the goods (such as batch testing a pharmaceutical product) (4C) A production step involving the packaging, labelling or marking of goods is not significant (whether or not it is regulated) unless the step is fundamental to the character of the goods and the purposes for which they are to be sold or used." The amendment explains terms used in clause 14(3) as amended by Amendment 94. Amendment 92, page 9, line 27, at end insert— "(10) "Contravening" includes failing to comply."—(Michael Tomlinson.) This drafting amendment ensures that references to contravening a relevant requirement cover a failure to comply with such a requirement (for example a failure to comply with a condition).