IRELAND\\\


Keeping Brexit and its effects on the logistics industry remains at the top of the FTA Ireland agenda, says general manager Aiden Flynn. However, there are plenty of other issues of concern to the industry, he says. One is the planned reduction


in night flights at Dublin airport, enshrined in the planning conditions as a quid pro quo for being allowed to build a second runway. The logistics industry is greatly worried by the effect this could have on full freighter operations in particularly, and which could serious affect industries like pharmaceutical manufacturing or the express parcels operators. The suggested ban is from


23.00 to 07.00 so it could be quite a ‘long night’ for the freight industry. FTAI is in the process


of producing a report in association with York Aviation on the economic impact of any night ban and is working up a number of alternative proposals. “Airfreight may be only 5% of


Irish freight by volume but it’s 35% of the value of global trade, says Flynn. “And even reducing the time of operations by just an hour could seriously impact the supply chain; people have businesses built around it.” Meanwhile, FTAI’s position


on Brexit hasn’t changed despite the election of a British Prime Minister who aims to “get it done” - but trying to focus the minds of politicians on the issue is especially difficult as they grapple to form a government in the wake of the three-way split between the major parties after the recent election. Flynn is particularly


FTA seeks a way out of the Brexit maze


A dead end could be the way out of the impasse that has been created over post-Brexit trade, suggests the Freight Transport Association’s Northern Ireland policy manager, Seamus Leheny. Various interests, including industry and retailers, along with the FTA itself, have proposed to the EU that there should be a derogation for goods that are destined to end up in the province but go no further, which would avoid the need for customs clearance or health (SPS) checks. If the EU can be assured that such goods are not going to ‘leak’ across the border into Ireland – and hence the rest of the EU – perhaps Brussels could be persuaded that that is all that would be required for quite a large proportion of the trade into Northern Ireland. One of the issues that has


been exercising the minds of UK and EU negotiators is that, under the Brexit deal that has been painfully thrashed out over the past three years, Northern Ireland will have to


be treated in many respects as if it was still part of EU territory. That in turn means no customs border on the island of Ireland, which is to be welcomed, but the quid pro quo is that there would have to be some controls


on goods moving


between Northern Ireland and ‘mainland’ Great Britain. Now the negotiators have to decide how to accommodate these without totally gumming up trade. Leahny points out: “Around


65% of ro ro freight into Northern Ireland is destined for the High Street. Perhaps loads could be scanned and recognised as belonging to an accredited ‘dead end’ host’” Traders would have to be


vetted and there may also be a need for periodic auditing by Customs, but this would be less onerous than having to do customs declarations and SPS checks


for every individual


consignment. Some retailers do of course have interests in both Northern Ireland and Ireland, but many do not. Even those that do might elect to keep their


its member states, which effectively means that everything would have to be done and dusted by October if a deal is indeed to be put in place by the end of the year. A particular worry is whether the UK might end up with ECMT licensing on road haulage - putting the country on the same footing as, say Russia with regards to trucking permits - if negotiations are not tidied up properly before the deadline. FTAI has made a number of suggestions,


including


exercised about the way an arbitrarily short timescale has been imposed by the UK government on the Brexit negotiations including endorsement by the EU and


two supply chains separate in order to benefit from the simplified procedures. At least the fear of a ‘hard’


border has receded. There will be no customs posts on either side of the border. Northern Ireland could also gain great benefit from remaining, effectively, part of the EU single market, although there are some caveats. For any goods that weren’t part of the dead end scheme,


exploring whether Safety and Security declarations would be necessary for UK/EU trade – one of the major potential causes of delay to freight – after Brexit. “We continue to make the


politicians aware of the issues and that we want continued access to markets,” Flynn says.


need to be checks on goods from Southern Ireland to the EU, to ensure that they are not, for instance, third country goods imported into Northern Ireland and moved over the border. Work on the issue by joint


committees and the Stormont Brexit Committee was due to start in March and FTA and other trade interests will be ensuring that their voices are heard. Ideally, the UK


Issue 1 2020 - FBJ Ireland Another worry is the length


of time it will take Ireland to put a functioning government together; some have even suggested that a fresh election may be needed to end the impasse. It’s said that Brexit was


a turnoff for much of the electorate and that the two established parties’ over- concentration on the issue allowed Sinn Fein to come up on the rails. However, says Flynn, people do possibly underestimate the effect that Brexit will have on the whole Irish economy. One issue that many do get


concerned about these days is the environment and again FTAI is looking for leadership from the Government while giving rise to the logistics industry’s concerns in this area. Some members are beginning to purchase LNG and CNG-fuelled trucks, but there has scarcely been any encouragement from the government for them to do this. Three years into an EU-funded government programme to create a network of 14 gas refuelling sites across


traders would need to be installed on Chief or some other IT system, staff would need training and any software bugs or other issues sorted out. As there would be scarcely


enough time to carry out such a mammoth task, perhaps an implementation period might be contemplated, suggests


Leahny. While


Boris Johnson has set his face against any extension to the Brexit negotiations, an implementation period is not the same thing and would give the trade vital extra breathing space, he argues. There is also the question


there would have to be customs declarations and checks, along with SPS checks for foodstuffs, and also EU Safety and Security Checks – unless the latter can be abolished, as suggested by Leahny’s colleague in Ireland, Aiden Flynn. There might also


government wants to get the Northern Ireland Protocol signed off by September, but even that quite ambitious timetable would give the trade only a scant few months, or weeks to get everything implemented. Bear in mind


of where any future customs checks would take place. For traffic coming into Northern Ireland, the destination port – Belfast or Warrenpoint, for example – would be the most sensible option he argues, although the port authorities might demur at having their facilities clogged up by waiting trucks. However, Leahny points out, if checks were to be carried out at the mainland port of departure, even small snags could lead to trucks missing their intended ferry departure and hence delays of several hours, whereas a short delay in the Northern


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Ireland, just one public station has been built. The process has been dogged by planning and local authority issues. There is also a lot the Irish


government could – but currently isn’t – doing itself to encourage uptake of green fuels; the Irish State is after all one of the country’s biggest heavy vehicle operators. Flynn says: “Companies would switch over to gas tomorrow if they could – there are plenty of financial incentives for them to do so, as the fuel itself is much cheaper – but at the moment the infrastructure isn’t there to support it. It’s no good simply demonising diesel by imposing punitive taxes, if there is no viable alternative. All you’ll do is create economic problems.” Rail could play some part


in greening Ireland’s supply chain but again infrastructure to allow this


to happen is


lacking, although that should be no excuse for not using what is available to the maximum extent, says Flynn. “However, the focus in Ireland will be on road transport for the foreseeable future.”


Ireland port would have far less serious consequences. Moreover, as 60% of trailers now come into Northern Ireland unaccompanied, there is a natural dwell time in which checks could take place. Training


needs to be


addressed too. Apart from a handful of people working for air and deepsea freight forwarders, most of Northern Ireland’s customs clerks retired many years ago so there is likely to be heavy demand for qualified people from retailers, manufacturers and hauliers. However, available resources in Northern Ireland are currently minimal. In theory, BIFA and the


Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) can offer an off-the-shelf


solution but


places on their courses are fully taken up and they do not currently have the capacity to extend their programmes – and until the exact detail of the Northern Ireland Protocol is known, it would be very hard for them to do so. Some government funding would almost certainly be necessary, says Leahny. It might be possible to offer


a ‘customs lite’ course dealing


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