Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon corrected a written answer on UK Trade with EU: Agricultural Products

7 June 2022 · Lords written answer · Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour, Life peer) asked written question HL321 on 17 May 2022. Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon answered on 7 June 2022 for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon corrected the answer on 7 June 2022. The corrected text no longer gives the figure 300. Altogether 226 words differ between the two versions.

The question

To ask Her Majesty's Government when negotiations will resume with the European Commission regarding Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Veterinary Arrangements and the Customs Code as part of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland.

Original and corrected answer

Struck through: original only. Bold: correction only.

Original	Corrected
~~The Foreign Secretary, as UK Co-chair~~ of the ~~Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee, and her predecessor Lord Frost met their EU counterpart, Vice President Maroš Šefčovič on 26 occasions since September 2021 to discuss~~ the Northern Ireland ~~Protocol. This also includes one meeting~~ of the ~~Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee on 21 February 2022. These discussions were supported by approximately 300 hours of negotiations over 6 months by UK and~~ EU ~~officials, covering sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS), customs, VAT and excise, goods, subsidy control, medicines, and governance.~~	We have engaged in negotiations with the European Union in good faith. After almost two years of negotiations, we are asking the Commission to go back to Member States for a new mandate, that would provide the flexibility to fix the current issues facing the people of Northern Ireland. Our preference is for a negotiated outcome - but we cannot wait to fix the issues facing the people of Northern Ireland. We will take steps to stabilise the situation in Northern Ireland and bring parity to everyone living in the UK, but we remain open to further talks if we can fix the issues with the Protocol through a negotiated settlement. Meanwhile, the legislation we will bring forward will fix the domestic impact of the Protocol, stabilise the situation in Northern Ireland and form an executive - protecting the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement - without undermining the integrity of either the EU or the UK's single market.

Original

Corrected

~~The Foreign Secretary, as UK Co-chair~~ of the ~~Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee, and her predecessor Lord Frost met their EU counterpart, Vice President Maroš Šefčovič on 26 occasions since September 2021 to discuss~~ the Northern Ireland ~~Protocol. This also includes one meeting~~ of the ~~Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee on 21 February 2022. These discussions were supported by approximately 300 hours of negotiations over 6 months by UK and~~ EU ~~officials, covering sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS), customs, VAT and excise, goods, subsidy control, medicines, and governance.~~

We have engaged in negotiations with the European Union in good faith. After almost two years of negotiations, we are asking the Commission to go back to Member States for a new mandate, that would provide the flexibility to fix the current issues facing the people of Northern Ireland.
Our preference is for a negotiated outcome - but we cannot wait to fix the issues facing the people of Northern Ireland. We will take steps to stabilise the situation in Northern Ireland and bring parity to everyone living in the UK, but we remain open to further talks if we can fix the issues with the Protocol through a negotiated settlement. Meanwhile, the legislation we will bring forward will fix the domestic impact of the Protocol, stabilise the situation in Northern Ireland and form an executive - protecting the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement - without undermining the integrity of either the EU or the UK's single market.

The question and answer on the Parliament website.

Receipt

Read from	https://questions-statements-api.parliament.uk/api/writtenquestions/questions/1463846?expandMember=true
Date read	15 October 2026
SHA-256	`a1fa1cb51b3f1d00447a633f521b6396da4fc410bb5adf0993dc085e0c077ca7`