Further problems with movement of livestock and agri food products across the Irish Sea are likely to emerge, a UK government minister has warned.

Defra’s Farming Minister Victoria Prentice said that her officials will be working on issues with the NI protocol part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement “for some time”.

“I literally have a list of issues as we find them on my desk, and we are going to have to work through it with the [European] Commission,” she said.

Prentice, who was a government lawyer before becoming an MP, described the NI protocol as “really complicated”.

“I wouldn’t in any way pretend that I have thought through all the ramifications, even now,” she acknowledged.

During an online event organised by the National Sheep Association, Prentice was asked about various requirements that have effectively stopped the movement of livestock from Britain to NI.

This includes a minimum six-month residency period for livestock and the need for sheep to scrapie monitored.

“We hope that these issues can be smoothed out, but they are legal issues, they are not easy to resolve,” she said.