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Issue 8 2020 - Freight Business Journal


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deals with third countries – at


least until such time as CDS could be put in place. ASM concluded: “Taking


all of this into consideration we consider that there is a totally unacceptable level of risk in mandating CDS and not having any workable contingency plans. There is no benefit to trade in using CDS, it is a decision based on the requirement to operate the UK and the EU tariff concurrently and the requirement to supply the EU with surveillance data. The spectre of paralysing the whole NI’s trade movements is real and we do not think that the TSS [Trader Support Service] can mitigate this to an acceptable level. We would urge you to start to look at viable alternatives, ideally using CHIEF which is currently in use and widely understood by all parties involved in trade with NI.” Chairman of the Association


of Freight Soſtware Suppliers (AFSS) Steve Bartlett also confirmed that there were issues with CDS in Northern Ireland, saying: “Whilst we are cautiously optimistic of readiness for systems like GVMS, ICS NI, S&S GB and Chief, we are not hopeful at all for CDS for Northern


Ireland.” On 9 November, Bartlett told a


House of Lords select committee on EU goods movements: “Earlier


this year, it was


mandated that the CDS would be the standard system to be used for Northern Ireland, because the CDS complies with the Union Customs Code—the UCC—which is required for shipments into Northern Ireland. The CDS is the de facto system, but we have some grave reservations about it, because we do not feel it is proven yet. We have a few traders currently live on the system, but they are doing only very simplified declarations, and those declarations are not being done at the frontier. “A lot of the functionality


that we require for the CDS to make it a working system, and the functionality required for EU exit, is not being delivered to us until late November, or even December.” Soſtware firms would not


even be able to begin to do their testing until December, which would leave “no time at all to test it and deploy it to customers”. As a result, many soſtware firms are focusing away from CDS and concentrating on all the other systems which they have a good chance of getting ready in time


for the end of the year. ASM’s Peter MacSwiney


suggested that Northern Ireland traders should meanwhile use TSS which “would probably be OK” adding: “There is very little choice.” He did not envisage that there


would be widespread chaos in GB-Northern Ireland trade from 1 January, however, as it was highly unlikely that the government or HMRC would attempt to halt trucks. He added: “The arrangements


are far from complete. We just don’t know what will happen.” He added that the UK


government had so far shown little if any interest in the practical arrangements for Brexit and, with barely a month to go before Christmas, time effectively had run out to make major changes to soſtware systems. Indeed, there were serious


dangers involved in attempting to tweak the existing Chief system to handle clearances between


the UK and EU


“because in tweaking it, you run the risk of breaking it”. If Chief was compromised, it would affect not just UK/EU trade but also the deepsea ports and airports, effectively bringing the country to a halt.


Post-Brexit rules could play havoc with Ulster food chain, says Gove


Companies ending food products from mainland Great Britain to Northern Ireland could face a mass of paperwork, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove told the Logistics UK Get Ready for Brexit online seminar on 25 November. Asked about the current


status of the Retailer Movement Scheme that would govern freight movements between GB and Northern Ireland aſter the end of Brexit transition on 1 January, he said that negotiations with the EU joint committee were still continuing and that there


remained challenges over Export Health Certificates (EHCs) and EU Single Market rules governing the transport of cooked foodstuffs into the EU from third countries. As Northern Ireland would


remain part of the EU customs territory aſter Brexit, movement of any such goods from the GB mainland to Northern Ireland would, in theory, be governed by the same rules that control movements from third countries to the EU. Gove however described the


EU’s position that the UK-produced foods should, immediately aſter


Dover disruption ‘inevitable’ Gove warns


There will inevitably be some disruption


to freight moving


through the Channel ports says Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove. He told the Logistics UK Get Ready for Brexit online seminar on 25 November that while work was going on to eliminate as many


risks as possible, his advice to traders was not to send freight “unless you are confident that it is compliant with the rules”. The day before, on Tuesday 24


November, five-mile queues built up on the M20 in Kent aſter the French started trial post-Brexit immigration checks.


Brexit, be subject to the same rules as produce from Australia or New Zealand was “illogical”. He told the seminar that consolidated loads for supermarkets in Northern Ireland would require “a huge number” of EHCs. He added: “We will have to


navigate a way through the complex legalese and I am confident that we will be able to do so.” However, the government


would not be able to make any public announcements until the negotiations were complete. Later in the conference,


Logistics UK policy manager for Northern Ireland,


Seamus


Leheny, said that a seven-bay Border Inspection Post at the port of Belfast was under construction, but would not be ready until next year.


Gove predicted that firms


would hold off moving goods until the new systems were bedded down, so traffic levels though the ports could be lower immediately aſter Brexit. Some disruption could be expected as traffic levels began to rise, before settling down to what he described as “the new normal”. However, a new Border Impact


Centre would warn hauliers if trouble was looming, he added.


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