Most of the trucks of the first post-Brexit ferries did not know the customs controls

Most truck drivers arriving on ferries from Britain to Dublin Port in the hours after Brexit came into force did not know whether they had to go through customs or not, according to state officials.

The Department of Transportation contacted transportation groups Friday morning to tell them that most truck drivers arriving on the first post-Brexit ferries had not checked with the online customs system to see if they had to receive a “green route” out of the port or “red”. directed ”to controls and inspections.

As a result of this, the department said truck drivers did not know where to go. The department urged transport groups to urgently remind drivers that before leaving the port they had to check their “customs channel” and that if they left the port without their goods from Britain being cleared through customs, it would be a violation, and that fines and prosecutions may arise.

Commissioners of Revenue have said they do not plan to impose penalties “on the first day.” You prefer to work with companies where a “genuine mistake” occurs, but action can be taken.

“Where necessary, Revenue will not want to apply those sanctions,” said Tom Talbot, head of customs operations for the Commissioners of Revenue at the Port of Dublin on Friday.

Delayed

The Irish Road Transport Association (IRHA) has asked Revenue Commissioners to create a ‘pre-shipment notification’ emergency identification number, a number required after Brexit to be able to board ferries bound for Ireland from Great Britain , to avoid driver delays. .

Eugene Drennan, president of IRHA, said that trucks with this number could be allowed to ship and that errors in customs paperwork would be corrected later to keep merchandise moving.

Aidan Flynn, general manager of the Irish Freight Forwarding Association, said that bugs were expected with the new system and that the application could lead to delays, particularly when the system is tested with large volumes.

“The real cause for concern is that where mistakes are made and the authorities enforce the rule of law, congestion builds up very, very quickly and that creates massive bottlenecks in the system that we don’t want to see,” he said. .

Overall, low traffic volumes meant that truckload arriving from Britain flowed smoothly on the first day of post-Brexit border checks at Dublin Port, but one in five Irish-bound trucks arriving at Holyhead in Wales was returned due to incorrect paperwork.

There were no delays at the ports of Dublin, Rosslare or Holyhead. New systems for managing traffic and post-Brexit controls worked efficiently after the UK’s exit from the single market and the European Union customs union went into effect on Thursday, albeit at unusually low freight volumes.

Stena Line Ports, which operates Holyhead, said that about 20 percent of a small number of trucks headed for ferries to Dublin were returned. This occurred because they did not have the correct documentation to secure pre-shipment notifications to board the ferries.

Paperwork

A company spokesperson said most of the vehicles returned with documentation in order, but a small proportion, about 5 percent, were unable to board due to incorrect documentation.

Volumes were unusually low on “the calmest weekend of the year” for freight traffic, Talbot said. He expects traffic volumes to increase from Monday and expand from the week of Monday.

“We had no concerns, but we are aware that this is an unusual day in terms of volume. . . our systems are working. We are ready for the volume increase next week, ”he said.

Talbot said some truck drivers did not check their “customs channel” 30 minutes before docking to see if they were “on the green route” to leave the port or “on the red” to be directed to the customs inspection facility or the Agriculture department. at the port.

“We can do this with a low number of units coming in, but when all the ships are arriving, but we need all the drivers to check the channel,” he said.

A small number of trucks arriving from Holyhead on the day’s first ferry, Irish Ferries’ Ulysses, were sent to customs for checks that took two to three minutes, he said.