A bespoke, modern UK-EU Veterinary Agreement arrangement could significantly reduce checks for businesses and aid the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Ahead of this week’s Joint Committee meeting, the business group is calling on both parties to seize the moment by building on the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) and exploring a bespoke solution, meeting the challenges for both GB-NI and EU-GB trade.
Since the implementation of the TCA, UK firms have gone to extraordinary lengths to adjust, often encountering delays to cross border trade and incurring increased costs when doing business with the UK’s largest trading partner. While recent data shows trade between the UK and EU picking up, it remains below 2020 levels.
The CBI’s conversations with businesses and trade associations across the economy – including the retail, agricultural and food and drink sectors, all point to the need for a bespoke agreement to ease increased frictions for moving agri-food goods between GB, Northern Irish and EU markets.
The CBI’s paper recommends that:
- The UK and EU create a modern, bespoke Veterinary Agreement to remove much of the burden of these checks for business
- The agreement includes a regulatory mechanism to ensure the UK’s ability to make international FTAs is not limited
- The EU and UK to develop a new Trusted Trader Scheme to help improve the movement of goods between GB and NI.
