The European Commission launched legal proceedings against London on March 15 for what is describes as a “deliberate” breach of international law over its unilateral decision to extend the Brexit grace period for food imports to Northern Ireland. If the issue is not resolved, the European Court of Justice may decide to introduce sanctions in the form of a daily fine. The announcement follows a decision by the UK government in early March to extend the grace period for post-Brexit agri-food movements (products of animal origin, composite products, plants etc) from the rest of the UK, transiting to Northern Ireland without official EU certification, until Oct 1. NI business groups had been pressing for an extension of the soft-touch regulatory regime on some goods—originally due to expire at the end of March—ahead of additional red tape requirements such as supermarkets producing export health certificates for all shipments of animal products under the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol. [AGRAFACTS]
EU tariffs valued at US$4bn have been slapped on US goods in the trade spat over airline subsidies. The tariffs were approved by the World Trade Organisation last last month in connection with US subsidies for Boeing after attempts at negotiations failed resolve the issue. The US has had $11bn of retaliatory tariffs in place on a wide range of European products, including dairy, since October 2019 as a protest against European subsidies for Airbus. The new EU tariffs were approved by the World Trade Organisation last last month in connection with subsidies for Boeing and include a 25% tax on US cheese and tariffs on concentrated milk protein imports. The value of US dairy exports to the EU was $116m in 2019, down from $145m in 2018, according to the International Dairy Food Association.
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