Statement by UUP MLA Steve Aiken on the implementation of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Controls (SPS)

‘The news from the speech by EU relations minister Nick Thomas-Symonds yesterday that SPS talks won’t even start until 2027, with implementation probably’ the year after, has been greeted with dismay by the agribusiness sector across the UK. 

‘The news from the speech by EU relations minister Nick Thomas-Symonds yesterday that SPS talks won’t even start until 2027, with implementation probably’ the year after, has been greeted with dismay by the agribusiness sector across the UK. 

Equally, though not widely reported, these talks will be concurrent with UK/EU talks on defence, energy, youth migration & other issues. 

This is very far from the ‘positive’ spin shown by the Prime Minister and Secretary of State earlier this year. The expectation that ‘faithful implementation’ of the onerous Windsor Framework SPS regulations would be short lived has proven to be a fallacy. 

Rather than building border posts & strangling Intra-UK trade Hilary Benn should be using the mechanisms within the protocol to halt the distortions of trade, rather than ignoring the obvious. 

Citizens in this part of our Nation deserve better’