The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has released a statement responding to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) announcement on Northern Ireland’s return to a power sharing Government.

The statement comes as the DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson revealed that it had agreed a deal to scrap post-Brexit customs checks and restore Stormont’s power-sharing executive.

Northern Ireland has operated without a devolved Government since February 2022, when the DUP opposed the Northern Ireland protocol and withdrew from power. The two years were spent boycotting the Windsor Framework, which the DUP had protested against.

Karen Betts, chief executive of the FDF, said: “We’re waiting to hear from the Government on what yesterday’s deal with the DUP means for the food and drink industry. It’s critical to food and drink businesses that any deal does not cause unnecessary costs to manufacturers and, ultimately, to consumers across the UK – particularly when households are already grappling with a cost-of-living crisis.

“The impact and costs of requiring ‘not for EU’ labelling on products sold right across the UK, not only in Northern Ireland, would be significant. We estimate the costs would run into hundreds of millions of pounds. Manufacturers could be forced to reduce the number of products they sell in the UK and food and drink exports are likely to fall, particularly those produced by SMEs.”

Further details of the terms of the agreement are yet to be revealed.