To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs what discussions his Department has had with the UK Government to progress the establishment of a sanitary and phytosanitary or a veterinary agreement with the EU.

Under the terms of the EU Withdrawal Agreement, the Northern Ireland Protocol and domestic legislation, Northern Ireland must continue to align with EU sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) rules. I am opposed to the detrimental impact of these additional rules on the intra-UK movement of animals, goods and products from Great Britain (GB) to Northern Ireland (NI). I feel that these checks are unnecessary and my predecessor, Minister Poots, has already written to Defra Secretary of State, George Eustice MP, and the European Commission, to highlight the difficulties caused by these new requirements.

The responsibility for considering any potential future alignment on SPS rules between the UK and the EU, including the negotiation of a veterinary agreement, rests with the UK Government.

Discussions between the UK Government and the European Commission, which I hope will find pragmatic solutions and lead to the resolution of the current difficulties, are ongoing.

In parallel, I will continue to engage with my Ministerial colleagues across the UK and my officials will also continue to engage with their GB counterparts to consider all available flexibilities and mitigations that could help to minimise the immediate impact on trade. However the long term solution must be removing the protocol.