Mr. Wm Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the normal length of time between the import and export if live cattle and meat to and from the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland and the payment or repayment of MCAs by the United Kingdom and by the Irish Republic.
§ Mr. ConcannonThe authorities in the Irish Republic are responsible for both the collection of their MCA levy and the payment of the United Kingdom MCA refund on exports of cattle and meat to northern Ireland. I understand that the Republic's MCA is collected at the time of export and that the United Kingdom MCA is paid at a later date when the authorities in the Republic are 443W satisfied that payment is due. It would be inappropriate for me to try to estimate the normal interval between date of export and the date of payment by the Republic authorities.
On exports from Northern Ireland to the Irish Republic it is the United Kingdom's responsibility to collect the United Kingdom MCA and to pay the Republic's MCA. These transactions are completed in one operation which involves payment of a net levy by the exporter. The time taken for the necessary documents to reach the United Kingdom authorities, for the net levy to be calculated and for an invoice to be sent to the trader is normally about five weeks. The interval between the issue of an invoice and payment by the exporter varies considerably but in the majority of cases payment is received by the United Kingdom authorities within one to two months.