Grace periods masking full impact of Irish Sea border, warns haulier

A leading haulier has backed the government’s unilateral move to delay parts of the Irish Sea border from being implemented, but has warned that such moves do not address fundamental problems facing many hauliers and their customers.
The checks at ports such as Larne have not commenced in fullThe checks at ports such as Larne have not commenced in full
The checks at ports such as Larne have not commenced in full

Peter Summerton, managing director of McCulla Ireland, which has depots in Lisburn and Dublin, said that last week’s easements are “only influencing a small narrowing band of product” and that “my central concern is that underlying deep problems haven’t actually been addressed”.

He said that much of the coverage of the issue focused on supermarkets which still are exempted from swathes of the new border. However, he said that the impact on much of the rest of the economy was still not appreciated, and this would become increasingly clear as economic activity recovers once lockdown eases.

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Mr Summerton told the News Letter that what was happening at ports was not in keeping with how hauliers such as himself were experiencing the new rules in reality.

“If the protocol was a product and the document which Michael Gove presented to Parliament in December was the paperwork for that product, the paperwork does not match the product. If you turned up at a port with this paperwork for this product, you’d be turned round.”

He added: “We are able to keep these goods moving because we have put in place solutions – including our own customs house – to move GB to NI goods. We are a very resilient industry and in technical terms, we can do that. But they come at a price – more cost, more time, and less flexibility.”

He said that the current situation where grace periods were coming and going at the whim of the government and the EU was “very difficult for industry” and that companies which prepared for the full protocol had spent money on solutions which were now not necessary in some cases.

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However, Mr Summerton said that the government had been right to act unilaterally last week to extend some grace periods, something he said had “prevented the reality that the system isn’t working from being dealt with because it’s delayed the issue. But what choice had the UK because we were staring at April Fool’s Day meaning empty shelves in supermarkets?

“The EU is saying ‘we were talking about it’ and the UK should have waited. But the time for talking is over. This isn’t the transition year to talk. We’re operating this live as hauliers. Supermarkets have to plan how to get food onto their shelves.”

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