THE British government has agreed "in principle" to cover the construction cost of post-Brexit inspection facilities at Northern Ireland's ports.
Applications for sanitary and phytosanitary facilities at Belfast, Warrenpoint, Larne and Foyle were submitted to the European Commission at the end last month.
The submissions were made to meet the NI Protocol as part of the UK-EU withdrawal agreement, British government minister Lord Gardiner said.
Lord Gardiner was responding to a written question from House of Lords peer Margaret Ritchie.
He said the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Stormont's Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) would "continue to work together to develop plans for the construction of these facilities".
"The facilities will be operated by Daera in conjunction with local authorities, the Food Standards Agency and the port operators," he said.
"The government has agreed in principle to fund the construction costs for these facilities.
"This funding is limited to costs associated with reaching the required level of compliance to implement the UK's obligations in relation to the protocol."
The NI protocol, aimed at avoiding a hard land border in Ireland, sees the north continue to follow some EU rules on agricultural and manufactured goods.
It means new processes and checks will be needed on some goods entering the north from Britain, but businesses are still unclear what will be required.
Questions have also been raised over whether the British government can deliver on its pledge of Northern Ireland having "unfettered" access to Britain's market.
Baroness Ritchie criticised the Conservative government for the continuing uncertainty as the Brexit transition period is due to finish at the end of the year.
"Our ports will be our gateway to Europe and the wider world and we don't yet know how they are going to function in the post-Brexit era – or even if they are going to function at all," the former SDLP South Down MP said.
"The news that the British government has agreed in principle to pay the construction costs is welcome, although I want to see a firm and unequivocal commitment on this.
"However, it is totally unacceptable that with just over five months to go, we have had no assurances that the vital port facilities we need to keep goods flowing smoothly into Northern Ireland are going to be ready in time."
