There is “frustration” that it has taken two years to get to a position where there is “a degree of discussion” on key issues relating to the Northern Ireland Protocol, according to the president of the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU), David Brown.

Brown said the fact that no breakthrough was announced today (Monday, January 16) despite more recent upbeat negotiations between the UK and the European Union (EU) only prolongs the challenges faced by the Northern Ireland agriculture sector and farmers.

European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris met via video conference today and agreed that “scoping work” for potential solutions should continue.

The UFU president said he remains hopeful that that there will be “movement” on some of the major issues and has pointed to the extension granted on importing veterinary medicines into Northern Ireland to December 2025.

Brown said this highlighted that progress could be achieved and it was a recognition that “somethings just are not working okay and need to be looked at”.

Northern Ireland Protocol

He said purely from an agricultural perspective and from the UFU’s perspective, the main difficulties in relation to the Northern Ireland Protocol continue to be around:

  • Seed potatoes which have been subject to import bans from Great Britain (GB), chiefly Scotland;
  • Livestock movements as pedigree livestock producers can no longer sell cattle in GB as they had previously done due to new restrictions;
  • The importation of particular plants and plant products from certain third countries – countries outside of the EU – is prohibited;
  • Long-term arrangements for veterinary products in Northern Ireland that must comply with EU regulatory requirements by 2026. 

According to Brown, the UFU is very aware that the concerns voiced by farmers and conveyed by his organisation to policy makers are just one element of the negotiations that continue on the protocol.

“We recognise that while we need solutions for agriculture, there equally has to be solutions on a political level that are beyond my remit.

“But ultimately we need to get the Northern Ireland Executive back to making key decisions for Northern Ireland,” the UFU president said.

The Co. Fermanagh livestock farmer said the absence of a minister for agriculture, a post that was previously held by the DUP’s Edwin Poots, has been keenly felt.

“I have to recognise that when we had a minister for agriculture, they definitely did deliver, particularly throughout Covid-19 where there were a lot of challenges for the farming community.

“Northern Ireland was the only region of the UK to get financial support across various sectors and that came through our minister for agriculture and indeed the finance department, so I would say that agriculture previously has been served well by our politicians,” Brown added.

But he said one of the major concerns that the UFU now shares with the farming community is around any future “divergence”.

The UFU president said any future agreements between the UK and the EU must recognise that if there is a divergence of agriculture and policy, requirements and standards between the UK and the EU, Northern Ireland could get caught in the middle.

“There needs to be a level of trust in these discussions and at the back of it farmers want to know will any agreement be enough to get our institutions in Northern Ireland back up and running,” said Brown.