Brexit: Progress made on Northern Ireland Protocol medicines issue

Further progress has been made in talks about guaranteeing the supply of medicines from Britain to Northern Ireland, UK's Brexit minister has said.

The NI Protocol means Northern Ireland is still covered by the EU's pharmaceutical regulations.

Lord Frost was speaking after a meeting with European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič.

He said they would meet twice next week in the hope of "making worthwhile progress" before Christmas.

Lord Frost said he "underlined the need for movement on all the difficult issues created by the protocol", including customs, agrifood rules and the role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

"We will not find a durable solution that does not deal with all these problems," he added.

Earlier, several European media outlets had reported that the UK wants to concentrate on addressing practical problems and was placing less emphasis on the role of the ECJ.

It is understood that a senior official held a video conference with London-based EU journalists.

Irish broadcaster RTÉ said the official described this change in emphasis as "an important shift".

RTÉ also reported that the British official said that if the UK ever had to use Article 16 - the so-called safeguard clause in the protocol - it would be done in a way that was "very limited and very focused on practical issues".

Article 16 allows parts of the protocol to be unilaterally suspended if they are causing serious problems or leading to diversion of trade.

The German newspaper Die Welt reported the official as saying: "'Nobody on Belfast's streets is protesting to get rid of ECJ. We now focus on medicines and customs."

The Northern Ireland Protocol leaves Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods, a market which includes medicines.

It was agreed by the UK and EU in October 2019 as a way to avoid a hardening of the Irish land border.

That means goods can flow freely between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, but goods arriving from the rest of the UK are subject to controls to ensure they comply with EU standards.

Northern Ireland gets most of its medicines from distributors and manufacturers in Great Britain but, due to a 'grace period', controls have not yet been imposed on the movement of those products.

The industry has warned that if the protocol as it stands is ever fully implemented it will mean major difficulties in importing medicines from Great Britain.

The EU acknowledged the requirements are too much of a burden and should be removed, subject to some conditions.

BBC News NI understands that the EU could shortly begin the process of changing its laws as part of a solution.

Northern Ireland Health Minister Robin Swann said on Friday he would need to consider the "fine detail" of any legislation, as it "does make a difference to the people of Northern Ireland".

He said he was waiting on the EU publishing its proposals and on how the pharmaceutical industry and "stakeholders" react to legislation which he hoped to see "this side of Christmas".

Mr Swann added that it was "about seeing the final document, seeing how it will impact us" but that he was committed to "making sure there is the least disruption of supply of medicines coming into Northern Ireland".