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Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue has said negotiators will work hard to ensure that there is no ban on a wide range of food moving between the UK and Ireland.
According to EU regulations, there are restrictions on certain meat products from outside the European Union. These products would therefore be banned from entering Northern Ireland from the UK as it will continue to apply EU food safety regulations from 1 January under the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The UK has indicated that it will, in turn, apply reciprocal restrictions to such food from Ireland. This is because the UK had indicated that it will replicate the EU’s food safety regime, including the range of EU restrictions on certain meat products. The measurements refer to many mincemeat-based foods, ready meals and cold cuts.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, McConalogue said the need for the food talks was a reflection of the challenges Brexit presented and highlighted how complicated the whole issue was.
McConalogue said it is important that there is a strong commitment to see how the problem can be solved. He denied that this was an example of “risky”, it was a reflection of how complicated the subject was.
There is no doubt that the Northern Ireland protocol was the best possible outcome, but it did not solve all the problems, he said. “In general, starting on January 1 there will be significant changes.”
This will mean additional administrative work for companies exporting to the UK, they must be prepared and look at their supply chains, he warned.
If a trade deal is not concluded before the end of the year, trade between Ireland and the United Kingdom will be much more difficult, he said. Regarding fisheries, he said that he wanted to protect the existing quotas that the Irish fishing industry has, but this was going to be difficult.
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