Following a meeting with the chief executives of the three main dairy companies and the Dairy Council for Northern Ireland (DCNI), the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) acknowledges that the DCNI’s position on the NI Protocol has always been consistent in highlighting the importance of dairy companies having continued unfettered access to the European Union (EU) single market, not only for the essential movement of 800 million litres of milk across the border every year as well as supplying EU customers with a range of dairy products, but also their recognition that it is not perfect and there are aspects of the NI Protocol that cause genuine practical difficulties for dairy farmers and need to be fixed.
The UFU have been involved with the DCNI chief executive, Dr Mike Johnston, in many meetings on the NI Protocol with the UK Government, the EU Commission, local political parties and others, where he has consistently raised all of these points.
The UFU would emphasise that both organisations are on the same page in respect of the Protocol and are supportive of those elements which are working, while remaining committed to resolving the various problems that are affecting NI dairy farmers. Both UFU and DCNI welcome the three-year extension of the existing veterinary medicines derogation by the EU Commission as a very practical example of this joint effort giving much needed time to find a negotiated settlement between the EU and the UK. The UFU and DCNI have frequently called for a UK/EU SPS/veterinary agreement as part of an overall solution and also recognised the need for negotiated solutions to the wider practical difficulties.
