London, December 11, 2018 : .British Brexit Minister David Frost stated that there has been little progress between the UK (and the EU) in supplying medicines to Northern Ireland after Brexit.
Frost had a video call with European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic on Friday to wrap up this week’s talks about the Northern Ireland Protocol, reports Xinhua news agency.
“We have made further limited progress on medicines but we have not reached agreement,” Frost tweeted after the meeting.
He said, “I emphasised the necessity for movement on all of the complicated issues created by (Northern Ireland Protocol), including customs rules, subsidy policies, VAT/excise & governance, including the Court of Justice.”
He confirmed intensive talks will continue in the coming week.
Frost said he and Sefcovic will talk twice to steer the process, in the hope of making worthwhile progress towards agreed solutions before Christmas.
The Northern Ireland Protocol, which is part of the Brexit agreement, stipulates that Northern Ireland will remain in the EU single markets and customs unions to prevent a hard border from the Republic of Ireland and the region.
However, this leads to a new “regulatory” border between Britain and Northern Ireland.
Britain and the EU view changing the protocol as a long-term solution to post-Brexit trade disruption in Northern Ireland.
In July, Britain presented its plans in a government document.This was interpreted by observers as an intent to renegotiate protocol.
In response, the EU published its own package to facilitate the movement of goods from Britain to Northern Ireland, including cutting customs formalities, simplified certification, and an 80 per cent reduction of checks on retail goods for Northern Ireland’s consumers.
It said it would guarantee an uninterrupted supply of medicine to the people of Northern Ireland, by changing EU rules.
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