Britain will align its regulations with the European Union's in some areas, such as the automotive sector, after it leaves the bloc in 2019, health minister Jeremy Hunt said on Friday.
Hunt also told BBC radio there was no possibility of the government changing its position on leaving the customs union after Brexit.
"There will be areas and sectors of industry where we agree to align our regulations with European regulations, the automotive industry is perhaps an obvious example because of supply chains that are integrated, but it will be on a voluntary basis," he told the BBC.
Hunt said that as a sovereign power Britain has the right "to choose to diverge."
"What we won't be doing is accepting changes in rules because the EU unilaterally chooses to make those changes."
Hunt was speaking a day after Prime Minister Theresa May met her top aides to resolve differences over the government's EU strategy.
