Europe Editor The Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has said there could be freer flowing trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland under the Protocol if the UK agreed to align more closely to EU food safety and animal and plant health standards. A veterinary agreement between both sides, or some form of "equivalence" arrangement, could lower trade barriers in areas where the UK is demanding flexibility from the European Commission, such as seed potatoes, seeds, potted plants, and pets, he said. Speaking following a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers in Brussels, Mr Coveney said: "In some of those cases the UK government has the capacity to facilitate that change if they want to agree to a different approach when it comes to equivalence of standards, for example.