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Reports: UK makes initial proposal on backstop alternative amid Brexit impasse

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Reports: UK makes initial proposal on backstop alternative amid Brexit impasse

The U.K.'s Brexit negotiator, David Frost, suggested the creation of a common regulatory area comprising the entire island of Ireland for checks on animals and animal products as an alternative to the Irish backstop plan, according to media reports.

Frost and a cross-government team met Sept. 6 with officials from the European Commission to present ideas on sanitary and phytosanitary issues, Reuters and The Guardian reported, citing a statement from a U.K. government spokesman. Discussions are expected to continue next week.

The meeting took place as both sides seek to break the impasse on Brexit, with the U.K. still due to leave the EU on Oct. 31 without a ratified withdrawal agreement with Brussels.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to renegotiate the Brexit deal struck by his predecessor, Theresa May, and replace one of its key parts known as the Irish backstop with alternative arrangements.

The backstop aims to prevent the return of a hard border between the U.K.'s Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Johnson has said the backstop could indefinitely lock the U.K. in a customs union with the EU.