The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) (2021 Consolidation) (Amendment No. 8) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021 (“the principal Regulations”).

Regulation 3. These amendments introduce lateral flow device (LFD) test for the detection of Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) as an alternative to existing requirements on arrivals deemed to be “eligible travellers” to undertake day 2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. The amendments provide for the use of LFD tests and the consequences of the results of such tests.

Regulation 4 amends regulation 3(3) to update the circumstances in which those arriving in a country or territory on an aircraft or vessel are not to be treated as having departed from, or transited through, that country or territory without first passing through immigration control.

Regulation 5 removes “Colombia”, “Dominican Republic”, “Ecuador”, “Haiti”, “Panama”, “Peru” and “Venezuela” from the red list of countries.

Regulation 6-

(a) extends the criteria for an “eligible arrival” to include participants in phase 2 or phase 3 clinical trials for a Coronavirus vaccine which is regulated by the European Medicines Agency or a regulatory authority (other than such an authority in the UK or USA) which is designated as a Stringent Regulatory Authority by the World Health Organisation;

(b) extends the circumstances in which a person is deemed to have completed a course of doses of an authorised vaccine. and

(c) adds the following 35 new countries Argentina; Angola; Azerbaijan; Belize; Botswana; Costa Rica; Djibouti, Eswatini; Guyana; Honduras; Lesotho; Mauritius; Mongolia; Nepal; Panama; Peru; Rwanda; Seychelles; Suriname; Tanzania; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; Uganda; Uruguay; Anguilla; Armenia; Bermuda; Cambodia; Cayman Islands; Gibraltar; Lebanon; Madagascar; Occupied Palestinian Territories; Sierra Leone; Sri Lanka, to paragraph 12 of Schedule 2B (Criteria to be an eligible arrival).

Regulation 7 amends the circumstances relating to mandatory testing after arrival in Northern Ireland.

Regulation 8 amends Schedule 4 to the principal Regulations to remove the “no access to passengers” condition from the exemption from the requirement to provide information (regulation 4) for “Seamen and masters”, “Pilots (maritime)”, “Ship inspectors”, and “Air crew”; and to introduce an exemption from the requirement to provide information (regulation 4) for “Transit passenger” and “Road haulage worker”.