MLA Alan Chambers tells Assembly that protocol is affecting supplies to his small family shop
An Assembly man has told how his own village supermarket has been impacted by the NI protocol. MLA Alan Chambers made the comments during an Assembly debate on Monday 17th May into the impact of the protocol on medicines and medical devices. Mr Chambers reflected on how his own family business had experienced some impact to supplies.
“My family have operated a village supermarket for nearly 50 years. We can already see the creeping effects and consequences of the protocol. A large, local wholesaler, which is part of a chain that operates right across Great Britain previously stocked a huge range of own-label products covering just about every requirement that a shopper could have” he told the Assembly.
“Those were quality products with a budget price marking. A shopping basket filled with them would represent a huge saving on a family’s weekly food bill. These products are no longer being brought into Northern Ireland because the supplier cannot justify the cost of relabelling the large number of food products in the range to meet EU regulations. That is just one example of the long-term damage being caused to the supply chain of goods coming into Northern Ireland. I could quote a number of similar stories around various products.
“There is not a single retailer or wholesaler in Northern Ireland that has not been negatively impacted on by the protocol,” he said.
“This debate, however, is about the supply of life-saving and pain-relieving medicines and medical devices. This issue is extremely worrying. No matter what your opinion on Brexit or the protocol, no one should underestimate the potential impact on our citizens’ health and, more importantly, on our NHS and the public’s ability to purchase over-the-counter medicines, as we approach the end of the grace period on 1 January 2022 and in the years that follow.”
