To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs what discussions his Department has had with (i) the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; and (ii) the European Union in regards to easing sanitary and phytosanitary checks on goods travelling between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

My Department has made the free flow of goods from GB to NI a top priority to ensure that disruption to traders and port operators was minimized.

The relevant EU legislation on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) checks is extremely prescriptive but there has been intensive and ongoing discussion between my officials, Defra and European Union (EU) officials on all the technical aspects in an attempt to agree workable solutions.

From the start of 2020 officials in Department have also been engaged in intensive discussion with Defra and HMRC to maximise the potential for minimizations and easements within the constraints of the legislation, identify priorities for negotiation with EU, and agree systems and processes to facilitate the streamlined movement of goods. These discussions have continued into 2021 in response to the practical difficulties being encountered by stakeholders.