Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they are having with the EU regarding an SPS Veterinary Agreement following the implementation of the Windsor Framework.

From 1 October, new arrangements under the Windsor Framework will ease the movement of food, plants, and seeds moving into Northern Ireland, protecting the availability, choice and supply of these essential goods.

For wider EU trading arrangements, the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) establishes trade based on zero tariffs and zero quotas, and the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) chapter of the TCA creates a structure that allows the UK and the EU to take informed decisions to reduce their respective SPS controls, with a commitment to avoid unnecessary barriers to trade.

We previously raised SPS equivalence with the EU in TCA negotiations, and they would not countenance it. We are open to discussions with the EU on additional steps to further reduce trade friction, but these cannot be on the basis of future alignment with EU rules. This would compromise UK sovereignty over our own laws.