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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 border in the Irish Sea, the Road Transport Association (RHA) warned from the UK to the British government.
The warning is contained in a letter sent to Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, seen by Reuters, just over a week after Britain left the orbit of the EU.
While Britain is no longer part of the EU single market and customs union, under the terms of the UK’s withdrawal from the bloc, Northern Ireland has a foot in both camps: it is part of the UK customs territory, but it is also aligned with the only one in the EU. goods market. This has led to the imposition of customs controls between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
The new rules have left some empty shelves in Northern Ireland 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.
The RHA said Britain’s raw material supply lines had also been restricted due to regulatory changes that followed the end of the Brexit transition period late last year, and that factories had already reported serious problems in the supply chain, including retail supply failures. Contracts
The trade body warned Gove that the introduction of some of the most complex customs processes in the world with little training and implementation time and insufficient capacity left the industry to “a storm / Covid event / ship breakdown” far from serious. supply problems between the North and Great Britain. .
“This would result in a shortage of [Northern Irish] grocery store shelves and factories are short of supplies, “RHA CEO Richard Burnett said in the letter.
Mr. Burnett also warned that the Covid-19 lockdown that will keep Northern Ireland’s hospitality sector and non-essential retailers closed for another month “simply masks a crisis in the supply chain for foodservice and the hospitality”.
Gove said on Friday that difficulties in moving goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK will worsen before improving. – Reuters
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