Now that sausage wars are a thing, it’s worth pointing out what is at issue: this is not about the EU and UK banning each other’s sausages, never mind a “sausage war”
2/ The EU is raising the prospect of arbitration / cross retaliation through the TCA dispute mechanisms because of the alleged bad faith by the UK in not implementing the NI Protocol per se (and the unilateral actions it has taken)
3/ Those unilateral actions have had to do with grace periods, mutually agreed in December, relating to meats, Export Health Certificates, plants and pets
4/ There is a strong expectation that the UK will unilaterally extend another grace period at the end of June, this time the six month grace period both sides agreed on chilled meats (sausages, mince, pies etc)
5/ Here is what @michaelgove told the House of Commons on Dec 9:
6/ “British sausages will continue to make their way to Belfast and Ballymena in the new year, and we have time for reciprocal agreements between the UK and the EU on agrifood, which can be discussed in the months ahead.”
7/ Did that mean there was an understanding both sides would discuss a Swiss-style veterinary agreement? Not clear.
8/ On Dec 17 the UK issued a Unilateral Declaration on “chilled meats, chilled meat preparations, wild game-birds, frozen or chilled, chilled minced meat from animals other than poultry, any unprocessed meat produced from meat initially imported in GB from the EU’s SPS area.”
9/ This was a declaration by the UK that chilled meats from GB would be sold in NI under strict conditions, for a grace period of 6 months (until July 1), after which they would not be permitted for sale in NI
10/ The UK’s Unilateral Declaration stated: Between 1 January and 1 July 2021 such meat products would have to enter thru a designated Border Control Post (BCP) before distribution to a supermarket...
11/ “They are sold exclusively to end consumers in supermarkets located in Northern Ireland, and they are not to be sold to other operators of the food chain...
12/ “They are accompanied by official certificates issued by the UK competent authorities (based on similar models already existing for fresh meat, minced meat and meat preparations), and...
13/ “They are packed for end consumers, and they bear a label reading ‘These products from the United Kingdom may not be sold outside Northern Ireland’...
14/ The UK also acknowledged that the grace period was designed to allow NI traders to get chilled meats from elsewhere, and that the UK would remain aligned to the EU’s SPS rules for the duration of the grace period:
15/ “During this [grace] period, which will be used by supermarkets in Northern Ireland to adjust, the United Kingdom remains fully aligned to [European] Union law applicable to meat products”
16/ So, for the EU this was clear and agreed by both sides. If the EU takes action because the UK overturns its own promise, it will not be because of “sausages” but because the EU believes the UK is repeatedly acting in bad faith
[Correction: the UK unilateral declarations only dealt with Export Health Certs and chilled meats]
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