Milk and lambs will require an inspection and health certificate when crossing the border in a no-deal scenario when the UK leaves the EU on 31 October.

When the UK leaves it will essentially become a third country and be subject to standard sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS).

These checks include inspections on milk, meat products, live animals and cheese. It will also mean that goods, including animals, will need to give a 24-hour notification to authorities before they can be moved.

This could give rise to serious issues for milk lorries and marts based in border regions post-Brexit.

Tánaiste Simon Coveney, said that while the Government was working on an agreement with the European Commission to accept equivalent standards between agri food in the north and south of Ireland, they had not yet reached a decision.

“The really difficult area is around SPS checks for agri-food product and the reality is that a lot of the goods that cross the border moving north and moving south in term of the all-Ireland economy are linked to agriculture,” Coveney said.

Unfortunately in a no-deal Brexit we don’t have those luxuries

“Almost 40% of milk produced on Northern Irish farms gets processed south of the border, there are half a million lambs produced every year slaughtered in the south of the border and tens of thousands of livestock with Northern Ireland buyers buying them in marts in the west of Ireland and small farms and taking them north to fatten them and slaughter them.

“Unfortunately in a no-deal Brexit we don’t have those luxuries [regularity alignment].

“The truth is that we will need to take some action somewhere that we are protecting the integrity of the products that are then going to be sold on out of Ireland.”

Backstop

Coveney said that the provision of a backstop would solve the issues around border trade but pointed out the uncertainty around the UK government, with the expectation that a new prime minister would shortly be in place.

He maintained, however, that although SPS checks could be imposed, there would be no border inspection points.

Additional reporting by Barry Cassidy.

Read more

Disorderly Brexit to cost Ireland €6bn

Taoiseach nominates Hogan for second term in Brussels

Suckler farmers to get €35m of €100m beef fund