NEWS\\\


Issue 8 2020 - Freight Business Journal


7


Kent truckers offered Brexit bypass


Kent-based international hauliers can apply for a special permit that will allow them to travel direct to the port or Eurotunnel, avoiding any customs queues, Department for Transport official


Richard


Thomas, told a Logistics UK conference on 25 November. Thomas, who is deputy director


of post- transition border, told the Get Ready for Brexit online event that any hauliers travelling from the Kent area to the Continent would be able to avoid the queues of trucks aſter the end of Brexit


transition on 1 January next year. Kent-based operators would


still need a Kent Access Permit in order to use ferries out of Dover or Eurotunnel but would not need to physically join the Operation Brock queues on the M20. The aim was to avoid unnecessary truck journeys through the county. Mark Etherington, senior policy


advisor for the Government’s Border and Protocol Delivery Group (BPDG) told the same event that he had “a level of confidence”


Apply for permits ‘just in case’, government tells hauliers


The government is encouraging hauliers to apply for ECMT (European Conference of Ministers of Transport) permits “as a precautionary measure” in case current negotiations fail to eliminate the need for them. The announcement set alarm bells ringing in the trade, with Logistics UK saying that stakeholders had earlier been


told these permits should not be needed. Policy manager for the South East, Heidi Skinner said: “If they are now considered vital for continuing to trade with the EU, logistics businesses need assurances that sufficient will be available (the current allocation to the UK falls short by a factor of four) to prevent hauliers being forced out of business. In addition,


that IT systems to control the movement of


trucks through


the country would be ready and working on 1 January. Thomas added that hauliers


travelling empty into Kent to pick up an international load within the county would not need a Kent Access Permit but would from the point at which the load was taken up.


He was added currently that going


legislation through


Parliament to prioritise movements of live animals and fish, allowing them to bypass queues.


Trucks would have


to visit a site at Ebbsfleet near Dartford near Gravesend to obtain a priority permit.


more clarification is needed on exactly how and where permit applications can be made and what the selection process will entail.” Later, at the Logistics UK Get


Ready for Brexit online seminar on 25 November, Department for Transport co-director Ben Rimmington, said it was very unlikely that the UK would have to rely solely on ECMT permits to access the EU. Even if current negotiations to continue existing market access failed to bear fruit, it was likely that ECMT permits would only be needed to fill in the gaps in the system, for situations


Get your declaration in first, warns Irish Customs


Trucks heading for Ireland will need to make customs declarations in advance before they get to the UK ferry port, Revenue Ireland official Celine O’Neill told Logistics UK’s Getting g Ready for Brexit conference on 25 November. O’Neill, who is principal officer


for Brexit policy, said that Revenue Ireland had set up a CustomsRoRo pre-lodgement


system, similar


to the Goods Vehicle Monitoring Service (GVMS) in the UK, that would create an electronic ‘envelope’ containing all necessary


such as transit or ‘cross- trades’. Current negotiations aimed to


retain the current regime for point to point movements between the UK and EU and transit, although it would be unrealistic to expect the same level of access to the EU’s crosstrade and cabotage markets as at present. In the event of a no deal between


the UK and EU, measures could be brought in to maintain connectivity for nine months while alternative arrangements were worked out, either with the EU as a whole or bilaterally with individual member states.


documentation. The system would also check the customs status of goods while the truck was on the ferry and tell drivers whether they were free to proceed before the ferry docked in Ireland. But capacity for carrying out


physical checks at Irish ports was limited and any drivers selected for examination might have to join a queue, O’Neill added. Later, in answer to a question, said that the transport


O’Neill


company had the primary responsibility to ensure that Pre- Boarding Notifications (PBNs) had


been obtained – although they could assign another party to do this on their behalf – and only one PBN per vehicle would be allowed. Marty van Pelt, manager


of business relations at the Netherlands community system, Portbase said that hauliers heading for the UK through the country’s ro ro ports would be expected to pre- notify and check that they were cleared, otherwise they would not be allowed to enter the terminal. In Belgium, where UK-bound


ferry traffic is overwhelmingly unaccompanied, Rx Seaport commercial director, Wim Fossaert, said a ‘Brexit Wizard’ had been developed which would allow drivers to check their status.


Belfast Harbour first to go 5G


BT and Belfast Harbour have announced a partnership to build a 5G system, the first within a UK or Irish port. It will achieve the highest levels of ultrafast mobile connectivity, coverage, reliability and security across the main operational area and is expected to go live across large parts of the 2,000-acre site early next year. The


partnership will also


explore how 5G and other emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, internet


of things and connected


autonomous vehicles can be used together to enhance safety, security and address climate change across the port and other parts of Belfast City. For example, 5G remote


controlled inspection technology could reduce the need for staff to work at height while sensors could monitor air quality and other environmental factors. The partnership follows a trial of 5G technology last year.


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