BREXIT BRIEFING: Chilled meats cliff edge looms
As the chilled meat cliff edge approaches (30 June), it looks increasingly likely that the British government has no intention of getting on with implementing the protocol. The level of engagement with the practicalities is summed up by Lord Frost’s attendance at the G7 summit wearing Union Jack socks. Thankfully, no-one seems to have got close enough to reveal if such insecure flag waving extends to his underwear. Last December it was agreed that anyone importing meat to the North from Britain needed six months to adjust to the protocol which bars chilled meat products entering the EU single market from a third country (which GB now is). As of 1 July, such goods must be frozen. The issue is far wider than chilled meat and could easily be sorted by agreeing, like Switzerland, to stick to EU standards. That would get rid of the vast majority of border checks at Larne and Belfast ports.
