Politicians from all major parties in Northern Ireland urged for calm on Tuesday after staff at ports in Belfast and Larne were threatened and physical post-Brexit checks of animal-based food products were suspended.
The security concerns led to Brussels officials being temporarily withdrawn from duties at the two ports as European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer said staff safety was “as high a preoccupation as that of any other person working in Northern Ireland on the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement”.
A spokesperson for Northern Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) said: "The situation will be kept under review and in the meantime full documentary checks will continue to be carried out as usual."
Meanwhile, British shellfish companies said they feared a post-Brexit ban on unprocessed oysters, cockles and scallops from many UK waters to EU markets could be a potentially fatal blow to their businesses.
Brussels informed the industry that UK fishermen will no longer be allowed to send bivalves and molluscs unless they have undergone purification to be made fit for human consumption, or have come from the cleanest “class A” waters.
The Shellfish Association of Great Britain said class A exports were “not in doubt”, but there was “severe uncertainty” over the future of exports from class B waters.
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