What is the Brexit sausage war all about?
Britains long history of Euroscepticism has seen a whole series of food-related rows with Brussels over everything from bendy bananas to crisp flavour regulations. The latest bust-up revolves around sausages. Boris Johnsons government is accusing Brussels of adopting a purist approach to meat regulations enshrined in the Brexit withdrawal deal  warnings that the import of sausages from Great Britain to Northern Ireland could be blocked entirely. The rows comes ahead of a looming grace period deadline in a temporary agreement, which has allowed Northern Irish supermarkets to continue importing chilled meats  including those all-important sausages. Mr Johnsons government has threatened to act unilaterally to ignore legally-required checks on chilled meats such as sausages and mince moving from GB to NI when the current grace period expires at the end of June. EU food safety rules mean that only frozen meat can be imported into its single market. And under the Northern Ireland Protocol, those food safety rules are imposed on good moving across the Irish Sea. EU Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic has made clear Brussel would act swiftly, firmly and resolutely if the UK tried to backtrack on agreements made under the Brexit withdrawal deal. Mr Sefcovic has raised the prospect of a trade war  with the EU imposing tariffs and quotas on British exports  if the UK failed to meet any of the international obligations enshrined in the protocol. Environment secretary George Eustice has described the row as bonkers on Tuesday  claiming he had no idea why the EU imposed idiosyncratic rules on the movement chilled meat. I suspect it links to some kind of perception that they cant really trust any country other than an EU country to make sausages, Mr Eustice said. Fellow cabinet minister Robert Jenrick said on Wednesday that the UK was only asking the EU to show some common sense over some of the protocol arrangements. Were asking them to show some common sense and enable something as simple as some chilled meats like a sausage to travel from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, the communities secretary told Sky News. Brexit minister David Frost is urging the EU to show pragmatism and common sense ahead of a meeting with his counterpart Mr Sefcovic in London on Wednesday. While there is no sign of a breakthrough deal on chilled meat exports, reports both sides are ready to agree to some changes in the protocol. It could mean the uninterrupted supply of medicines moving between GB and NI, as well as easing some livestock regulations to avoid multiple tagging. EU officials insist they want to go further. Brussels has encouraged the UK to agree to a Swiss-style agri-food deal, which would eliminate roughly 80 per cent of checks on goods. But Downing Street has rebuffed the offer, fearing any agreement tying the UK to EU standards would damage the chances of a comprehensive free trade deal with the US.