The EU and UK have agreed to negotiate a veterinary agreement that would remove the need for export health certificates and most port inspections.

The outline of what the agreement would include was revealed following an EU-UK summit, hosted by UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer in London on Monday.

His ambition for the summit was a reset of EU-UK relations following the Brexit agreement and was reached on a wide range of issues including defence, access for British passport holders through EU lanes at airports and a 12-year extension for EU fishing rights in UK waters.

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However, what will matter most to farmers and exporters is the plan for a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) deal, commonly referred to as a veterinary agreement.

Outline framework

An outline framework of what it would look like was released and if a deal comes into place, it would reverse most of the port inspections and requirement for veterinary certificates.

These were required after the UK left the single market and apply to all goods that have animal or plant origin.

Their introduction is thought to have added up to 5% in costs for UK companies exporting to the EU and Irish exporters to the UK have had to comply with the same rules.

If an SPS agreement is concluded, it would also eliminate most - if not all - of the checks that are required by the Windsor Framework that governs trade on goods entering Northern Ireland from Britain. This has been politically sensitive and cumbersome for traders.

A major issue for Northern Irish farmers has been access to veterinary medicines sourced in the UK.

A grace period has been allowed to the end of this year and the Ulster Farmers Union and British Veterinary Association have been vocal in calling for this to be made permanent.

However, there was no mention of this in the framework for an SPS deal that was presented on Monday.