A Stormont committee is to investigate the decision to withdraw staff conducting Brexit checks at ports in Northern Ireland.
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) temporarily suspended physical checks of animal-based products arriving at Larne and Belfast ports.
It followed a decision by Mid and East Antrim council to remove its staff from Larne Port due to safety concerns after the discovery of threatening graffiti.
Questions have mounted over the decision on Monday last week after police said there was no evidence of "credible threats".
A majority of MLAs on the agriculture committee voted on Thursday in favour of an inquiry into the department's decision.
Council staff returned to inspection duties last Friday, while Daera resumed physical checks at the ports on Wednesday.
Former Stormont agriculture minister, DUP MLA Edwin Poots, made the call to withdraw staff shortly before stepping down from the role to receive medical treatment.
Graffiti opposing Brexit-related Irish Sea border checks had appeared in the Larne area in recent weeks.
Sinn Fein MLA Philip McGuigan, who proposed the committee inquiry, said: "It is clear that this decision warrants further investigation and scrutiny."
He claimed the minister and council "ignored" the threat assessment from the PSNI and "came up with their own assessment".
Mr McGuigan said he believed it was a fair assumption that withdrawing staff was a "calculated and concocted political decision by a DUP minister and others".
DUP members on the committee said the safety of staff was paramount.
MLA William Irwin said the decision to suspend staff was a "sensible decision to make".
He added: "We are playing a bit of politics and I think it is dangerous. It is important we act sensibly on this."
Meanwhile, a Sinn Fein councillor has said Mid and East Antrim council's chief executive had told party group leaders before the decision to withdraw Larne Port staff that the UDA was involved in threats.
Anne Donaghy made the claim "based on information she had received" from a "source that she didn't want to disclose", James McKeown said.
The PSNI has said there is no evidence of loyalist paramilitary involvement.
Mr McKeown told BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme: "I was part of the group party leaders meeting that afternoon before the full council meeting.
"And we were led to believe that there were threats and that they were from a paramilitary organisation."
He said in hindsight he perhaps did not ask enough questions about the chief executive's claim.
"In hindsight possibly not, but given the graveness of the situation if you're told that there's members of your staff under a possible threat it's only natural that you would look after their safety."
Earlier it emerged the DUP has withdrawn from party group leaders' meetings of Mid and East Antrim council.
The council's chief executive subsequently cancelled a meeting planned for today, but other parties questioned why it could not go ahead in the DUP's absence.
