Sir, – Newton Emerson argues that the three supermarket chains that provide 80 per cent of Northern Ireland's groceries won't require EU customs supervision at the border down the Irish Sea, post-Brexit, such is the rigour of their internal controls ("Brussels playing games with Irish sea border", Opinion & Analysis, June 4th).
He reports that Tesco has a specialist analytics centre so sophisticated that it can detect vegetarians buying meat.
It was, however, not sophisticated enough to detect horse meat in their burgers. Perhaps some customs spot-checks are warranted, after all, especially as the UK plans to import a lot more food produced to different standards in the Americas.
A little more competition from food produced within Ireland and the EU might also improve the choice, variety, and price competitiveness available to Northern Ireland consumers. Not everything has to be imported from Britain. – Yours, etc,
FRANK SCHNITTGER,
Blessington,
Co Wicklow.