NI’s Alliance Party has written to the EU & the UK govt suggesting a veterinary agreement as a way to tackle the most acute issues on the Irish Sea border - the trade in food products.

They have asked the EU to extend the current grace periods, and then use the Trade Specialised Committee provided for with the Trade and Co-operation Agreement to agree the necessary measures.

They suggest three outcomes:
1) A comprehensive UK-EU veterinary agreement. With the Protocol, this would in effect apply to GB to EU trade. This is the Swiss option & not v attractive to sovereignty maximisers.

2) The UK could agree to align with EU SPS rules, and not diverge, and update its own legislation in line with any changes in the EU acquis during that period. Basically an indefinite grace period but without a formal agreement.

3) A bespoke agreement again based on the existing grace period and building on the supermarkets’ logistic system to provide a trusted trader system for food movements. This is what the supermarkets were asking for last year. EU weren’t keen.

I first wrote about the Swiss option in 2017 in a slightly different context https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-politics-41862575

The political question I ask myself: Where is the UK domestic constituency clamouring for rapid divergence on food standards?