When the UK left the EU at the end of last year, British bangers and other chilled meats were banned by Brussels. They will be back on the menu at the talks as the team try to chew over teething problems in the UK-EU trade deal struck on Christmas Eve.
It came after the EU allowed Northern Ireland to be exempt from the ban in October. British officials are prepared to challenge the EU over chilled meats in an upcoming committee meeting whose aim is to iron out teething problems with the UK-EU trade deal. The EU prohibits such imports from non-EU countries without animal health and food safety checks. The 11th hour trade deal struck on Christmas Eve last year missed provisions for things like sausages and burgers because negotiators were unable to agree on terms. READ MORE: How David Frost will try to budge the EU on Northern Ireland deal?
Northern Ireland'sausage war truce will continue for Britain and EU British chilled meats, which were outlawed as the UK left the EU over safety fears - even though UK food standards are largely the same as before leaving the bloc. A UK source told the Telegraph: What is the risk? Is the UK now producing substandard food? According to minutes from a meeting seen by the paper, the UK has offered to share scientific risk assessments of British chilled meats with Brussels. The EU has agreed to further technical talks, but has not changed its position on the issue.
In London for urgent talk REPORT Hated Brexit deal savaged by the EU REACTION Ireland doubles its exports to EU to dodge Brexit red tape INSIGHT Brexit fury as Frost lets rip at EU over legal interference, despite the fact that the UK has the same food production standards as its own. The EU has limited equivalence agreements with New Zealand and Canada. Some products require minimal physical checks, but they still require export paperwork. Lord Frost said in May that the EU didn't want to include an equivalence mechanism last year, but if they would like to, we would be very happy to pick up negotiations. The EU ban remains in place. A fourth round of negotiations on the Protocol continues this week, but diplomats are gloomy about the prospects after previous talks could not reach an agreement on medicine supplies. EU officials worry Lord Frost will allow negotiations to carry on for a second year in a row. One envoy said I could not call the British negotiator a grinch as a diplomat. It seems like he is out to steal our Christmas once again.