Customs deal on farming, food could ease hard border

Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, wants to explore an ‘‘all-island of Ireland’’ customs regime for food and agriculture in talks with Boris Johnson. The aim would be to allow postBrexit trade with Northern Ireland to flow free from border delays. Varadkar is keen to explore the potential of restricting checks on meat and food products to ports including Belfast, Dublin and Rosslare rather than at the Irish border or the factory gate.