Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Simon Harris has said that the UK "has work to do" to come back into line with food safety standards in the EU.

The Tánaiste was speaking yesterday (Thursday, October 2) during a visit to Ireland by European Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic.

In a wide-ranging speech at the British Irish Chamber of Commerce in Dublin, Minister Harris touched on EU-UK relations, saying that Ireland has "consistently supported" the strongest possible EU-UK ties.

He added that there is now a "joint agenda" between the UK and the EU to work on several issues, including energy; security and defence; justice; and food safety and health standards.

He said that the commitment from both sides to work towards a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement is "good news for Irish exporters".

"The UK is the biggest destination for our food and drinks exports. Once agreed and implemented, a comprehensive SPS agreement would greatly reduce the administrative burden on agri-food businesses," the Tánaiste added.

"It would also be good news for Northern Ireland in the context of the Windsor Framework," Minister Harris added.

However, he indicated that the road to an agreement would not be a short one.

"I must stress that we have no illusions; negotiating this agreement will take time. The UK has work to do to come back fully in line with EU food safety standards," the Tánaiste said.

He said he was pleased that the draft EU negotiating mandate on SPS was published before the summer, and that he hoped "to see swift progress here and in other areas, including emissions trading".

During his visit to Ireland yesterday, Commissioner Sefcovic stood by the safeguards included in the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement.

Commissioner Sefcovic said that the safeguards were "unprecedented" in EU trade deals and are based on "very strict legal language".

In answer to a question from Agriland, Commissioner Sefcovic said: "We worked so intensively with your government but also with the governments of other EU member states who have been concerned with the Mercosur agreement and the potential impact it might have on the farmers.

"What we proposed is really unprecedented…based on the strongest legal instrument we have at our disposal and this is a regulation. What it says in a nutshell is that we are putting into this very strict legal language, a legal obligation, the precise method how we will monitor the trade flows in the agri-food sector between Mercosur and the EU," the commissioner said.