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The supply chain between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK is a “ship breakdown” away from collapse as a result of the post-Brexit regulatory frontier, the UK Road Transport Association warned the British government.
In a letter sent to Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, accessed by Reuters, the RHA said some sectors are “struggling enormously” with the complex new rules just over a week after the UK leave the orbit of the European Union.
While the UK is no longer part of the EU single market and customs union, Northern Ireland has a foot in both fields as it is part of the UK customs territory but also remains aligned with the EU single market. EU goods.
The new rules have left some shelves empty this week as supermarkets scramble to import fresh produce from Britain and manufacturers reported that trucks bound for Northern Ireland were unable to cross the Irish Sea due to difficulties with customs declarations.
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The RHA said Britain’s raw material supply lines had also been restricted due to regulatory changes and factories had already reported serious supply chain problems, including failure to supply retail contracts.
The trade body warned Gove that the introduction of some of the most complex customs processes in the world with little training, implementation time and insufficient capacity left the industry to “a storm / Covid event / ship breakdown” far from having serious problems of supply.
RHA Chief Executive Richard Burnett said in the letter: “This would result in shortages on (Northern Ireland) supermarket shelves and in factories without materials.”
Mr Burnett also warned that the Covid-19 lockdown that will keep Northern Ireland’s hotel sector and non-essential retailers closed for another month “simply masks a crisis in the food service and hospitality supply chain. “.
Yesterday Mr Gove said that difficulties in transporting goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK will get worse before getting better.
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