Puzzled of Epsom

I read this morning of sausage wars.

It seems that it is a well established rule of European food hygiene that things like sausages can only be imported from the outside world (of which we are now part) if they are frozen. Not chilled, and certainly not fresh, but frozen.

In order to minimise the land border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland counts as Europe for these purposes. So Sainsbury's can only move their premium sausages from their factory in Immingham to their store in Londonderry if they freeze them first. If the Northern Irish want fresh English bangers with their mash, they are going to have to make them themselves. Or get them from Ireland.

One might have thought that all this was clear enough when we signed our agreement with Europe. And that Sainsbury's and suchlike people would get on with implementation.

But it seems we would rather have a last minute row about it instead.

All that said, the rule is not so well established that I could find in in the ten minutes or so I allocated to the matter: the Europeans publish a haystack of rules about food, but I failed to find this particular needle. Rules, I might say, that all civilised countries have, preferring not to fall ill or die of contaminated or otherwise damaged sausages, pork pies or potted meats. Which last used to pop up regularly in Agatha Christie murder mysteries.