Brexit minister Lord Frost says that while talks on implementing the Northern Ireland Protocol have progressed in “one or two areas”, the EU is fast to “resort to threats”.
Speaking to the Commons foreign affairs committee yesterday, Frost called on the EU to “dial down” the threats, reports City AM.
Protocol must change
According to the Guardian, Frost did not expect UK relationships with the EU to be as difficult as they have been, and that he didn’t expect the protocol to survive in its current form.
Frost said the UK is considering all options and again called for the EU to show “pragmatism”, Sky reports.
Grace period extension request
As reported in the IOE&IT Daily Update bulletin, the UK has requested an extension until September of the grace period for which health certification is required for chilled meats, including sausages and mince, entering NI from GB. The prime minister has threatened to suspend parts of the Protocol if there is not progress.
EU officials have said they may be forced to introduce quotas and tariffs in retaliation against any such move, a disagreement some have dubbed the ‘sausage trade war’.
Waste problem
Ironically, according to the Guardian, NI should have no shortage of sausages due to its population of 1.5 million pigs. However, the agriculture sector faces having to export up to a third of the manure its pigs and 25 million chickens produce to improve soil and water quality.