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Issue 6 2020 - Freight Business Journal timeline fails to take


into account the time it will take for transport companies, their customers, subcontractors and customs intermediaries to agree and co-ordinate the necessary business processes at the right time to gain access to the border. We are concerned that mass user testing of the soſtware will not be possible until October – or maybe even November: this is far too late for the thousands of companies and tens of thousands of people who build our complex supply chains to redesign their own processes and contractual relations before the transition period ends.” The timeline would also bring Smart Freight onstream at the height of the Christmas peak,


the worst possible time to test and train staff in new working practices, said Logistics UK. Laouadi added: “Even if the


soſtware is ready by the end of the year, the government’s plans ignore the users’ perspective – our members will need time to learn the new system, adopt it and help to iron out any potential issues in the system. This will leave logistics businesses carrying the can for the government’s failure to plan in a timely fashion – something we have been warning about for some time now.” She added that the logistics


industry needed “the means to remedy the border readiness issues Smart Freight is intended to flag, as well as a much more joined- up and streamlined approach to the border with fewer, integrated


systems. Without time to plan and implement new systems, the sector is being set up to fail at the start of the New Year, which is not what we expect or deserve.” Logistics UK says that Smart


Freight is one of eight IT systems which hauliers will need to use to move goods to and from Europe aſter 31 December 2020: these include four UK systems, and up to four other EU country IT systems, depending on the route and goods being transported. Logistics UK earlier warned that


the Operation Brock measures to manage international freight moving through the port of Dover and Channel Tunnel must not be allowed to disrupt local transport. Smart Freight aims to keep


traffic moving through Kent by preventing trucks that are not


‘border ready’ from accessing the county’s road network. At a session of the Transport on


Committee 9 September,


Under Secretary of State Rachel Maclean said that while the timeframe for development of the Smart Freight was tight, it was “on track”, despite the known difficulties of developing government IT systems. She said that hauliers would need to register with the system and operators of trucks that failed to do so could face fines of up to £300. The minister also said that she


was confident that sufficient extra ferry capacity would be laid on to keep essential goods moving aſter Brexit day, with up to 3,000 extra truck spaces a week from a range of ports.


No checks for GB-NI trade aſter all?


The government proposed changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol that will govern customs checks on goods moving to or from the province aſter Brexit in the Internal Markets Bill published on 9 September.


In contrast with the earlier


agreement with the European Union, the new bill proposes that there would be no new checks on goods moving from Northern Ireland to the rest of Great Britain. Some Ulster Unionist MPs are reportedly


unhappy at the prospect of such controls on Northern Ireland/GB trade. Northern Ireland Secretary


Brandon Lewis said the bill would create a safety net if ongoing negotiations between the UK and EU on the terms


of the Brexit withdrawal agreement failed to produce results. However, opposition MPs and


former PM Theresa May said that the plans to modify the deal already agreed with the EU could break international law.


Customs expert gets ready for the Brexit rush


The Customs Clearance Consortium (CCC) arm of logistics firm Oakland Invicta is creating 50 jobs to support its 24-hour UK and EU operations ahead of Brexit, which is expected to generate more than 200 million extra customs declarations a year. CCC was launched by Oakland


Invicta to address the shortage of customs brokers and demand has


accelerated as businesses try to get to grips with the new processes coming into force on 1 January, once the UK has formally leſt the EU.


Oakland Invicta commercial


director, Robert Hardy, who is also a Government advisor on customs and Brexit and a registered international trade expert with the EU Commission, commented:


New online service for Ulster imports


The Government has unveiled a Trader Support Service for Northern Ireland to complete digital processes and handle safety and security declarations for imports into the province. The new service will be


available to businesses bringing in goods from Great Britain or the rest of the world. A procurement exercise


for the service has now been launched. The government has committed £50m of funding for the establishment and first phase of the service, with the full contract to be worth up to £200m. Businesses in Northern Ireland can sign up for further information about the scheme on GOV.UK, before it becomes


operational in September. The service was announced


on 7 August by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Michael Gove, and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis,


as part of a £650m


package of investment. The service is outlined as


part of the publication of new guidance on the Northern Ireland Protocol for businesses moving goods into and from Northern Ireland. Brandon Lewis said: “This new Trader Support


Service


backed by funding of up to £200m reinforces this approach – it is a unique service that will ensure that businesses of all sizes can have import processes


dealt with on their behalf, at no cost.” However, Seamus Leheny, policy manager for Northern


“The Consortium is excited to be recruiting an additional 50 staff to support our 24-hour, seven- day-a-week shiſt operation and recognising that most trucks move at night, we’re setting staffing levels accordingly. Understanding Customs is one thing, but understanding how to apply those processes on the ground is a skill that takes years to refine.”


Ireland at Logistics UK (formerly FTA), warned that, with less than 150 days until the end of the Brexit transition period, there was no time to lose in testing and implementing the new system.


WE Deane opens Calais office


UK-based freight forwarder WE Deane has opened a new site near Calais, France. The new office will act as a customs office in response to Brexit and specialise in the management of traffic to and from the UK, particularly for automotive customers. It will take the company’s total number of sites to 11, including two recently opened facilities in Birmingham.


It also has five branches in


South Africa. Managing director Rob


Falconer, commented: “In response to Brexit, WE Deane has taken the strategic decision to open a new site in Calais to manage the imports to and from the UK whilst also acting as a customs office in response to Brexit.”


News Roundup


///NEWS


Hong Kong based forwarder U-Freight Group has added a second Chinese consolidation centre in Shanghai to its existing Zhengzhou hub for its LCL and FCL rail freight services to and from Europe. The company started its regular service in 2014, consolidating cargo in Zhengzhou and using the daily service that operates to and from Malaszewicze in Poland, Hamburg in Germany, and Liege in Belgium. U-Freight reports a spike in LCL traffic as shippers switch from air and ocean to overland.


Davies Turner has added Birmingham, Bristol and Manchester to destinations directly served by its weekly fixed-day rail-road consolidation service from China to the UK, in addition to its Dartford. The train runs from Hefei in China to Neuss in Germany, from where containers are then trucked under bond via Rotterdam and by ferry to Purfleet for on-carriage direct to one of Davies Turner’s distribution centres for customs clearance and delivery.


The first refrigerated container has been loaded onto the Ethiopia- Djibouti train, carrying 24 tons of avocados from the Koga area of Ethiopia for shipment to Europe via the Société de Gestion du Terminal à conteneurs de Doraleh. Ethiopian Minister for Transport Dagamawit Moges launched the container at a ceremony at Modjo Dry Port. The project is the result of a cooperation between the governments of Ethiopia, Djibouti and the Netherlands allowing Ethiopia to export refrigerated goods including fruit, vegetables and flowers.


GB Railfreight has appointed Tim Hartley as business development director. Over the last 20 years he has advised on the appointments of many of the most senior leaders in the UK rail industry.


Eurotunnel operator Getlink’s Le Shuttle Freight traffic sustained its recent recovery during August with 110,327 trucks transported, only 7% below the levels seen in August 2019. The tunnel company reported in July that freight had returned to near-normal levels with 123,879 trucks carried, just 5% down on the same month in 2019. For the eight months from January to August 2020, 899,554 trucks were carried, just 15% down on the same period in 2019. On July 8, daily truck traffic reached a new post-crisis high (since 19 March),with 5,189 trucks transported.


The number of secure truck parking places in TAPA EMEA’s Parking Security Requirement (PSR) database reached 7,000 in July. The most recent growth has been driven by SNAP Account, the cashless payment system working with over 220 HGV parking sites across the UK and Europe, which is actively encouraging parking operators to adopt the TAPA security standard. Some 19 of these sites are already participating in TAPA’s PSR. The latest locations are in the UK, France, the Netherlands and Slovakia with six more in the pipeline.


The TIR system is now operational in Oman, following the commitment made by the country to join the customs bonding scheme in 2018. Dedicated TIR lanes are in place between Oman and the UAE. The TIR corridor from Iran to Uzbekistan via Afghanistan has also been activated for the first time.


The Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) has established a new advisory board in its Europe, Middle East & Africa region. It consists of Gilad Solnik, director security and loss prevention, EMEA, Amazon; Michael Schmidt, chief security officer, Volkswagen; Frank Ewald, head of corporate security and crisis management, Deutsche Post DHL Group; and Paul Linders, global head of security, CEVA Logistics. It will spearhead TAPA’s transformation into an end-to- end supply chain resilience organisation under the leadership of president and chief TAPA EMEA will also retain elected officers in the roles of chair, vice chair and treasurer, namely Marcel Saarloos of HP, Jason Breakwell of Wallenborn Transports, and Ap Boom of Amazon respectively.


Eurotunnel operator Getlink has appointed Géraldine Périchon as its new chief financial officer. She was until recently with Groupe Suez, latterly as director of finance, recycling and value for France.


Road & Rail


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