Northern Irish farmers are at risk of being unable to sell their produce in the UK and overseas unless London and Brussels reach a post-Brexit deal on the supply of veterinary medicines to the region, a House of Lords committee has warned.
Since Brexit, Northern Ireland remains inside the EU’s single market for goods, as well as the UK single market, creating regulatory complexities when EU and UK rules clash.
Lord Michael Jay, chair of the cross-party Windsor framework subcommittee, said in a letter to Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker on Tuesday that a third of animal medicines used in the region — including vaccinations against botulism and salmonella — could become unavailable.
“Concerns were also voiced [in hearings] about the impact on the food supply chain; Northern Ireland supplies the UK alone with enough meat and dairy to feed 10mn people,” the committee said in a statement.
Veterinary medicines are one of a number of issues as diverse as metal-based dental fillings and permitted levels of arsenic in baby food that highlight the problems of having different regulatory regimes in the EU and UK.
Unlike human medicines, animal pharmaceuticals were left out of last year’s updated Brexit trade deal, known as the Windsor framework.
A “standstill” arrangement is in place until the end of 2025, after which EU rules on veterinary medicines would apply if there is no agreement in place.
Looming elections in both the EU and UK have added pressure to sign a deal before there is a change of leadership, Jay said.
“It could be devastating if [the negotiation] goes wrong,” he said. “These are highly complicated issues so there’s not very much time.”
He said the ideal solution was “something which is much nearer to present arrangements than to try to switch to something completely new”.
The opposition Labour party, which polls suggest is on track to win power in the UK, has committed to signing a new veterinary agreement with Brussels to improve post-Brexit trading arrangements with the EU.
But Jay said: “I don’t think you can just do nothing about Northern Ireland” until then.
In his 23-page letter, referring to evidence presented to the committee, Jay warned that the loss of veterinary medicines could have an impact on public health in Northern Ireland and across the island.
Northern Ireland is only a small market, making regulatory changes expensive to implement, but a lack of deal could put meat and dairy processing in the Republic of Ireland or sales in Britain at risk, the committee heard.
It warned that full application of EU rules could also affect pets and prevent horses from going to competitions, including the Olympics, and breeding bulls being taken to Britain.
Complying with EU rules would mean changing registered addresses and implementing further quality checks on drugs arriving from Britain.
Deirdre McIvor, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Pork and Bacon Forum, also warned that the region could lose access to China.
“Chinese authorities are exceptionally particular and were there any suggestion that Northern Ireland no longer had access to necessary veterinary medicines, China could very well de-list our sites and cease to trade with us, with devastating consequences,” she told the committee.
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