UK gives France 48-hour warning over fishing row

The United Kingdom has given France has 48 hours to back down in a bitter dispute over fishing rights, or face legal action from London under the Brexit trade deal.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Monday, “Paris had behaved unfairly and made completely unreasonable threats with the two sides at loggerheads over the number of licences the UK has handed French vessels keen to fish in its territorial waters.”

France has said it could impose targeted measures from Tuesday, including stopping UK boats landing in its ports and tightening customs checks on British goods entering the country, if there is no resolution to the dispute.

London says it distributes fishing licences under rules in the post-Brexit deal it signed with the European Union in December last year, but Paris claims some French vessels have been denied permits to operate in areas where they have long fished.

According to Truss, she would absolutely take legal action in the coming days if France pressed ahead with its threatened sanctions.

“This issue needs to be resolved in the next 48 hours.

“They need to withdraw those threats or else we will use the mechanisms of our trade agreement with the EU to take action.”

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Kamila/Al-Jazeera