Last-minute effort to avoid Brexit meat ‘ban’
Britain threatens to retaliate if Ireland bans chilled meat imports from the mainland after Brexit
British and EU officials are in lastminute talks to avoid a potential “two-way ban” on meat products moving between the UK and Ireland, in the latest sign a Brexit trade deal is edging closer. As things stand, certain chilled and processed meat products, such as sausages, burgers and mince, will not be allowed to enter Northern Ireland from Great Britain from Jan 1. Britain has signalled it will retaliate with a ban on Irish exports to the mainland if a solution cannot be found.
BRITISH and EU officials are in lastminute talks to avoid a potential “twoway ban” on meat products moving between the UK and Ireland, in the latest sign a Brexit trade deal is edging closer.
As things stand, certain chilled and processed meat products, such as sausages, burgers and mince, would not be allowed to enter Northern Ireland from Great Britain from Jan 1.
Britain has signalled it will retaliate with a reciprocal ban on Irish exports to the mainland if a solution cannot be found. Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, Britain will be treated as a non-eu country at the end of the Brexit transition period but Northern Ireland will continue to operate EU food safety rules to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland.
Under the rules, to be replicated in the UK’S law books, animal-based products from outside the bloc must be frozen, meaning certain fresh or chilled meat products are not allowed.
However, a government spokesman said: “We will ensure there is no ban on trade in sausages from Great Britain into Northern Ireland. We are working to find an appropriate solution.”
Talks were continuing this week amid hopes that a trade deal could soon be struck. The European Commission refused to comment.
Brexit negotiations have been conducted online since a member of Michel Barnier’s team tested positive for coronavirus last week. The EU’S chief negotiator is expected to come to London on Friday for face-to-face negotiations if he tests negative for the virus.
Although EU sources claimed that a deal was “95 per cent done”, breakthroughs on the critical issues of fishing, level playing field guarantees and the deal’s enforcement remained elusive.
The JP Morgan investment bank put the chances of a successful trade deal being struck at 80 per cent yesterday, up from 66 per cent.
Meanwhile, the car industry yesterday warned that there was “no vaccine for Brexit”, amid fears a no-deal outcome would cost the sector £55.4 billion.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders claimed that leaving on WTO terms would cut vehicle production by two million over five years and even with a “bare bones” trade deal that appeared increasingly likely, it would be hit by £14.1 billion in losses.
Mike Hawes, the society’s chief executive officer, said: “As the clock ticks ever closer to midnight on a deal, our competitiveness hangs in the balance. We need that deal. Without that deal, we decline.”
Alok Sharma, the Business Secretary, said: “Whatever our eventual trading relationship, there will be changes for business. And that is why my department and I, and indeed colleagues across government, are working with industry, with sectors, to ensure that we are all prepared.”
In Kent, lorry drivers were left queuing yesterday on the M20 as Brexit border control tests were carried out at the Channel Tunnel.
Highways England said it had closed entry and exit slip roads due to the number of HGVS parked on the hard shoulder. It is understood the delays were caused by the French border checking authorities at the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone.
But looming border issues should present the Government with opportunities to introduce tougher rules to prevent puppy smuggling from Europe, the Dogs Trust said yesterday, after warning that the pandemic had led to an explosion in black market trading.
Thousands of dogs bred in horrific conditions are regularly smuggled into the UK as Eastern European criminal gangs exploit the EU’S pet passport scheme. And lockdown has resulted in a surge in demand for puppies, creating a “perfect storm”, the charity said. Current legislation, it said, was “not fit for purpose” and it called for the minimum age for puppy imports to be raised to six months, to make them “less desirable”, plus tougher penalties for smuggling.