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Issue 1 2021 - FBJ Ireland


the actual trade agreement that will govern


relations between the two blocks haven’t even started yet, and until they are concluded, the trade will be operating in limbo. What also needs to be


remembered is that so far, only Ireland has introduced full customs controls – at the EU’s behest – on traffi c from Great Britain into Ireland. The UK has yet to impose its own controls on imports from Ireland – which will start to happen from April onwards. The UK has at least deferred


the introduction of Safety & Security declarations until July, and FTAI’s hope is that these could in fact be avoided altogether. The problem, says Flynn, is


that the system being used to control GB/Ireland traffi c “was not developed with this type


of trade in mind.” Nor does it help that the Irish government agencies


involved all have


diff erent IT systems and require separate submission of data. He reckons that Irish Customs actually underestimated the number of declarations it needed to handle – already, by the middle of February, the number for 2021 had exceeded the annual total for 2020 – and the new AIS computer system was “up and down like a yo yo”. Flynn said that documentary


or physical checks on goods coming into Ireland were still running at around 17-18% in mid- February, compared with 20% in late January and 30% earlier in the year. However, FTAI was still looking for a “drill down” into the headline fi gures; Flynn’s suspicion is


that mandatory


checks on goods of animal origin accounted for a very large proportion of the total. But his big concern is that


currently the fl ow of goods from GB to Ireland is currently only around 50% of normal levels. If traffi c volumes across the Irish Sea were to rise towards something


like their normal


level, the number of checks could be expected to increase substantially, which would put the system under severe pressure. Covid is having a severe


eff ect on economic activity in Ireland, even more so than in the UK. Trade has been aff ected by Covid “without a shadow of a doubt” Flynn points out. “Construction is shut here in Ireland, and that was a big consumer of goods from GB.” Quite a bit of what traffi c there


is from Europe to Ireland has switched from the GB landbridge to direct ferries between the Continent and Ireland, but there are some challenges here. One is the diffi culty of obtaining backloads; for decades, many


operations between Ireland and Europe were based on full load or groupage carriers taking loads back from Ireland to GB, dropping them there and seeking whatever traffi c was available. Groupage operation was straightforward and added to the carriers’ options. While it is possible that,


eventually, trade simplifi cations and the introduction of concepts like Trusted Traders will one day allow something like the old pattern of traffi c, at present there is no clarity on what the transit rules through GB are, nor will there be until a trade deal is fi nally signed between the UK and EU. At the moment, traders are


trying to get to grips with the complexities of rules of origin and the new regulations on food traffi c and don’t feel inclined to start experimenting with valuable, oſt en perishable loads. Finding alternative backloads


from Ireland to the Continent might be possible, but this takes time and Irish hauliers need to build up business relationships with customers and partners on the Continent. “Whether or not backloads or


groupage through the UK will be possible lies in the court of the politicians,” Flynn explains. “It’s a process that hasn’t really started yet, and it requires the two sides to talk to each other again. We haven’t seen that yet, so everything is in limbo. This will take months and months to settle down.” Meanwhile, while the direct


Continental routes have to some extent eased the Irish traders’


///IRELAND


plight, “there is not nearly enough capacity”, points out Flynn. Despite protests from the industry,


logistics the the French


are also demanding negative Covid checks for truck drivers entering


country from


Ireland, and Germany and Italy have unilaterally imposed similar controls on their own land borders. The desertion of freight from Central


the Corridor route


via Holyhead – and the near- absence of passengers – has leſt Dublin port “like a ghost town” says Flynn. This is of great concern to him and FTAI members as it was hitherto Ireland’s busiest ro ro hub. Moreover, “there is only so much capacity available in Rosslare,” he adds. A few weeks earlier, Welsh for


Minister Economy and


Transport Ken Skates wrote to the UK Government calling for action to help ports cope with a 50-70% slump in traffic as the result of Brexit. He said that the sharp fall was due not only to hauliers avoiding the land bridge via Great Britain but also because freight


traffic which


used to travel between England or Wales and Northern Ireland via the Republic of Ireland is now rerouting through the north of England or Scotland direct - or is not travelling at all. Skates’ estimate of the fall in


Central Corridor freight “is not too far wrong”, says Flynn. Flynn points out that even


Continent-bound drivers from Ireland who have got their documents in order and have


braved the GB landbridge have found that they have still been directed to the Manston Airport holding area outside Dover, so are still incurring delays and uncertainty. Using


unaccompanied


trailers on the ferries could be one way of avoiding at least the French Covid check, but Irish hauliers used to using the fast, frequent crossings on the UK landbridge are not yet geared up for this type of operation. It’s easier for the big players, says Flynn, as they have depots and large teams of drivers at both ends of the ferry routes; smaller operators would need to find partners in France to contemplate this kind of set up. Containers on direct routes


from major hub ports like Rotterdam, Antwerp and, now Dunkerque are another alternative to trucks on ferries, but this mode isn’t really suitable for just-in-time, urgent cargo,


let are, alone anything


needing refrigeration. Containers on lo lo vessels arguably,


greener than


trucks but there is plenty that could – and should – be done to cut emissions from road transport, adds Flynn. With battery electric or hydrogen powered heavy trucks still some way into the future, compressed natural gas or liquefied natural gas vehicles would be the ideal way forward in the interim but there has been little if any encouragement from the


Irish government.


At the time of writing, Ireland had just two gas fuel stations suitable for trucks.


More eff orts needed to keep Northern Ireland trade fl owing, says Logistics UK


Your Partner in Ireland


The Northern Ireland Protocol that controls the movement of goods between Great Britain and the province needs further work, Logistics UK told UK government and EU representatives at a round table meeting on 18 February. Policy manager for


Northern Ireland Seamus Leheny told the gathering, chaired by Michael Gove and European Commission vice president Maroš Šefčovič, that several formalities are causing difficulties to logistics businesses. Logistics UK said that while


the round table opened a vital new dialogue between the


business community and EU- UK governments, there is much work still to be done to smooth trade flows – industry needs to be given clarity, certainty and simplifications in the weeks and months ahead. Logistics UK wants to see


the development of a Retail Movement Scheme to govern the transportation of agri-food goods, plants and animals between GB and NI. Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks must be proportionate to the low risk these items present to


health to prevent any


unnecessary administration and delays. It also wants a Trusted Trader


status for parcel operators to reduce administrative burdens on placed on business to consumer consignments. To enable the successful


delivery of these schemes, the grace periods currently in place under the Protocol must be extended sufficiently to enable longer term simplifications to be agreed and implemented. Leheny said: “Both the UK and EU government representatives expressed their commitment to reaching pragmatic solutions and I look forward to meeting again on a quarterly basis to ensure the Protocol is best serving the business community.”


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