Northern Ireland being pushed further out into the Atlantic by new Irish Sea border, haulier warns

Last week any lingering hopes that Brexit will not lead to a new trade frontier within the UK in 18 days’ time were extinguished when Boris Johnson’s government re-affirmed its commitment to that border – even though it continues to deny there will be any sea border whatsoever.

Most trade from Northern Ireland to Great Britain will not involve any new checks, but goods coming into Northern Ireland will face a dizzyingly complicated process.

Some firms have already stopped supplying Northern Ireland because of the scale of the red tape.

Last night it remained unclear whether the Prime Minister and the EU would be able to agree a wider free trade agreement. If they fail to do so, that is likely to see an even harder Irish Sea border.

DUP peer Nigel Dodds yesterday called for “the minimum checks” on GB-NI trade.

Peter Summerton, managing director of haulage company McCulla Ireland, which has depots in Lisburn and Dublin, told the News Letter that because of the time and effort which would be required to trade with Northern Ireland the Province would effectively be far further away from GB than is geographically the case.

Mr Summerton said: “In moving goods from England to Glasgow, or from England to Belfast today the space and time constraints are really well understood.

“But in moving products from England to Belfast on January 1, the time and space constraints become much more limiting.

“Effectively, this pushes Northern Ireland further and further into the Atlantic because the time it requires to move goods to Belfast from England will increase due to port infrastructure, due to systems and certification that have to be adhered to for exports, etc.”

Mr Summerton expressed frustration at how the government had treated businesses who will be most acutely impacted by its decisions, saying that even with just days left until the border becomes operational there were key points which had still not been clarified by government departments.

He said: “McCulla Ireland have put in place everything possible regarding depot structure, recruitment and the creation of a customs house within our business just to facilitate our GB to NI traffic and our Ireland to GB traffic.

“However, I am more concerned at the lack of preparation on the side of the government because it is unclear if CDS [the Customs Declaration Service software] will be tested and operational between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Only the Trader Support Service appears to have access to it.

“It’s also unclear that the port infrastructure will be in place on either side of the Irish Sea.

“And the general feedback from companies is that industry isn’t ready for this move either.

“As encouraging as I can be is to say that for us, even with depots in Dublin and Lisburn capable of handling the activity, and with a customs clearance facility capable of doing the transactions, you still need the systems to be available from government and the port infrastructure in place and the capacity at the ports to move the goods and that’s the areas where I see the most challenge.”

Mr Summerton said that hauliers are being told to get ready yet it is government which is still not ready for what it wants to do on January 1 and that in attempting to prepare for the new arrangements “we’re banging our heads on the glass ceiling of government”.

Yesterday DUP peer Lord Nigel Dodds said he hoped the extension of talks between the UK and EU could lead to a tariff and quota-free trade deal.

He said: “The DUP has always believed that barriers and tariffs between North/South or East/West were neither necessary nor sensible.

“If we find ourselves in a no-deal outcome between the UK and EU, as far as Northern Ireland is concerned then Northern Ireland-EU trade will continue. Trade between Northern Ireland to Great Britain will be unfettered, with no extra paperwork.

“We must ensure that Great Britain to Northern Ireland trade is tariff-free and with the minimum checks.”

Tariffs imposed on goods after a no-deal Brexit are “not necessarily the end of the world”, a minister in the Scottish Office has said.

Boris Johnson last week said that a no-deal outcome is “very, very likely”. But David Duguid, one of his ministers, told ‘Politics Scotland’: “That’s not necessarily the end of the world.”

However, Martin Reid, the Road Haulage Association’s (RHA) director for Scotland and Northern Ireland, said it is “crazy” that industries are still in the dark about the nature of customs checks.

He warned that large retailers could cut back on shipping to Ireland if checks created by Brexit cause delays.

He said the situation at the port of Cairnryan remains unclear and that one retailer “may not go near [the island of Ireland] for the first three months of the year”.

He added: “Quite frankly it’s crazy that at a time when all the fine-tuning should be taking place some of the fundamentals are still not ready.”

The government said it had worked with Stormont and “developed helpful practical arrangements to simplify and streamline controls on agri-food goods”.

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