Legislation – The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021

These Regulations consolidate The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 and subsequent amendments, and introduce new provisions for travellers to Northern Ireland with regards to mandatory post-arrival testing, and the requirement to enter managed isolation for arrivals from red list countries. The full requirements of these Regulations are set out below.

Part 1, and Schedules 1 to 2, set out the interpretation provisions, and red list and green list countries. A country which is neither a red list nor green list country is an amber list country. Red list arrivals are travellers who arrive in Northern Ireland from a red list country, and so on.

Part 2 of these Regulations impose requirements on individuals arriving in Northern Ireland and who have been in a country outside the common travel area (that is, the open borders area comprising the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands) in order to prevent the spread of infection or contamination from coronavirus or coronavirus disease.

Regulation 4 and 5, along with Schedule 3 require those people to provide passenger information including contact details and details of their intended onward travel.

Regulations 6 and 7, along with Schedule 5, require persons travelling to Northern Ireland from outside the common travel area to possess a notification of a negative coronavirus test upon arrival in Northern Ireland.

Regulations 8 and 9, along with Schedule 6, impose requirements on travellers from outside the common travel area to obtain a testing package comprising a booking for two tests for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. The first test is to be taken within two days of a traveller’s arrival in Northern Ireland and it is to be capable of permitting genomic sequencing of any sample. The second test is to be taken after seven days of the traveller’s arrival. Where the traveller arrives from a green listed country, only a day 2 test is required.

Regulations 10 to 13 require travellers from amber list countries to self-isolate (for example at their home) for 10 days following their arrival in the common travel area.

Regulations 14 and 15, and Schedule 7, require travellers from red list countries to enter into manged isolation for 10 days following their arrival. Managed isolation will be at a place designated by the Department of Health. Travellers must be in possession of a managed isolation package before they arrive in Northern Ireland, which includes booking for the accommodation, transport to that accommodation and tests for coronavirus on day 2 and day 8 after arrival in Northern Ireland. Schedule 7 sets out some minor modifications to this obligation.

Schedule 4 sets out the persons who are exempt from the requirements in Part 2 of the Regulations.

Part 3 of the Regulations prohibits aircraft and vessels from arriving into Northern Ireland from certain red list countries.

Part 4 addresses enforcement of the requirements in Parts 2-3, setting out the offences for breaching the requirements, and the levels of fixed penalty notices that can be issued by authorised persons.

Part 5 addresses information sharing requirements to ensure the effective operation of the Regulations and the requirements they impose.

Parts 6 and 7 revoke the previous Regulations and provide that these Regulations will automatically expire in March 2022. The Regulations must also be regularly reviewed to ensure they are still needed.

An Equality Impact Assessment screening exercise has been carried out for these regulations, which determined that a full Equality Impact Assessment was not required. A separate Human Rights Impact Assessment is in progress.