Northern Ireland Protocol: Unionists slam EU decision to grant NI three more years to buy veterinary medicines from Great Britain

The Northern Ireland Protocol was set to block 51% of veterinary medicines from the start of January. Because NI remains in the EU Customs Union after Brexit, goods coming into the Province from GB are subject to strict EU customs restrictions.

Dr Esther Skelly Smith, Junior Vice President of the British Veterinary Association (BVA) NI Region, told the News Letter last month: "The mood is , we're very concerned. This will affect all sectors – farm, equine and pets – and will have significant implications on animal health and welfare, public health, trade and the agricultural economy. Medicines affected include anaesthetics and vaccines, including salmonella vaccine for poultry, the loss of which poses a significant public health issue.”

However, yesterday, EU Brexit negotiator Maros Sefcovic announced that the EU was granting NI a three year extension during which NI is free to bring in veterinary medicines from GB.

"We've listened, understood, acted," Mr Sefcovic tweeted.

"Ensuring the continuity of supplies of vet meds from Great Britain to Northern Ireland... This practical solution to a practical problem shows our genuine efforts to find joint solutions with the UK around the Protocol."

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverley responded on Twitter: “Thank you Maros Sefcovic - I welcome this announcement which provides greater certainty for the veterinary medicines industry in Northern Ireland. We will continue to look for long-term solutions on the Protocol, including on vet meds, to provide political stability in NI.”

Responding to the extension, BVA President Malcolm Morley said: “The extension of the grace period is extremely positive, and we welcome a solution which provides ample time to adapt for future compliance."

However the DUP’s Upper Bann MP and Environment spokesperson Carla Lockhart said it was “unacceptable” that the EU retains control over NI’s veterinary medicines.

“Whilst clarity would have been welcome earlier, this extension of grace periods is good news in so far as it removes the immediate threat to supply." she said. "However, what it does not do is solve the fundamental issue here. That is the unacceptable situation whereby the Northern Ireland Protocol hands power to the EU over our veterinary medicines."

UUP Environment spokesperson Tom Elliott welcomed the news. “Although this is only a stop-gap and temporary solution, we should never have been in this position and I have called on numerous occasions - the last being just a month ago - that animal medicines should be removed from the scope of the Protocol.

TUV leader Jim Allister agreed. "The supply of veterinary, and for that matter other, medicines from the rest of our country should not be something held up by the EU as some sort of temporary concession,” he said. “If our colonial overlords expect us to be grateful they have another thing coming."However nationalist parties praised the EU's approach.

Sinn Féin Brexit spokesperson Declan Kearney MLA said the move "once again this demonstrates the EU's commitment to delivering practical solutions to ensure progress on the Protocol".

And SDLP Rural Communities spokesperson Patsy McGlone said the decision was "another act of good faith from the EU”.