With the UK government about to introduce legislation that will override the Northern Ireland protocol, industry fears are growing about the impact on cross-border trade for milk and livestock on the island of Ireland.

It is understood that Secretary of State Brandon Lewis will be in Northern Ireland this Thursday for further discussions.

As well as political difficulties, the protocol has had an impact on consumer goods of animal and plant origin entering Northern Ireland from Britain. This has presented particular difficulties for supermarkets serviced by British distribution centres.

However, it has worked for processors taking large consignments of goods for processing and onward sale in either Britain or the EU.

Similarly, it has enabled milk and livestock from Northern Ireland continue uninterrupted to processing facilities in the Republic of Ireland.

The fear is that if the protocol enabling Northern Ireland to participate in the EU single market is replaced by the UK without EU agreement, then Northern Irish produce will no longer be able to freely circulate in the EU single market.

In that event, the focus would switch to how the Irish Government would propose to protect the single market.

With the political uncertainty in Westminster, it will be a challenge for the UK government to get the legislation approved in the parliament and House of Lords. There will be a significant window in which it is expected further negotiation with the EU will take place.