THE Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has called on the Labour government to stand by its commitment to establish a “veterinary agreement to prevent unnecessary border checks,” in the post-Brexit world.
UFU parliamentary officer Alexander Kinnear noted “it has been clear this past couple of months, that the government machine is picking up the pace on the matter ahead of the reset with the EU and a major summit on 19 May.”
Mr Kinnear set out the UFU position, and outlining how the union had been lobbying for sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS)/ veterinary agreement between the entire UK and EU “based on the principles of equivalence and alignment.”
“After Parliament rejected Theresa May’s deal, the UFU adopted this position with the ambition of ensuring NI was treated on the same basis as the rest of the UK,” he said.
“The NI Protocol, and in particular the Windsor Framework, addressed some of the challenges created by Brexit and basically eliminated all problems North-South, but as has been well documented, issues East-West continue to cause trouble for farmers, other businesses and consumers.”
Mr Kinnear went on to outline the specifics of the issues involved, noting the North had been left in “no man’s land” regarding many regulatory matters.
“To simplify our problems NI must comply with EU regulation, but is under the control of UK based regulatory bodies. Local farmers must comply with EU regulations unlike those in GB,” he said, adding that “putting GB on the same regulatory basis as the EU would resolve these issues.”
With regard medicines, he continued, “Government has always been very clear that veterinary medicines and associated issues around importation from GB do not fall within the scope of an SPS/veterinary deal.
“Steady and very much welcomed progress is being made on the issue ahead of the current grace period ending later this year, with the products being impacted by NI having to follow EU veterinary medicines regulation dropping significantly.
“However, as long as the UK (GB) and the EU are not aligned on the issue, problems will persist.
“That is why along with NOAH (the association representing the UK animal health industry), we are asking that the UK and EU fully align on veterinary medicine regulations as part of any wider UK-EU reset.”
Mr Kinnear added, “All arguments put forward by UFU have been dismissed with no regard for our farmers who are elderly, terminally ill or through the devastation of a farm accident, don’t have the luxury of succession planning.
“Unfortunately, the reality is Labour have the control, power and authority to do what they want when they want to. This means that our lobbying efforts are in the context that Labour will decide what suits Labour best on all issues including any future SPS/veterinary arrangements.”
To read more.. Subscribe to current edition
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere