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The largest ferry company operating in the Irish Sea has urged the EU to introduce a six-month “implementation phase” for post-Brexit customs because many companies are not ready.
Stena Line, the Swedish company whose ferries cross the Irish Sea more than 250 times a week, said “many unanswered questions” remained, despite the EU and UK agreeing on Tuesday how Ireland’s protocol will work. of the North for controls of the Irish Sea under the Brexit Agreement.
“The systems and infrastructure required for customs checks in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK will also not be finalized in time for January 1, 2021,” said Stena Line CEO and Brexit spokesman Ian Hampton.
“As many companies in the supply chain are not ready yet, we believe that both the UK and the EU require an additional ‘implementation phase’.”
The company, which operates the ports of Holyhead and Fishguard in Wales and sails to Belfast, Dublin and Rosslare, wants the EU to follow the UK’s decision to delay the introduction of full controls on most imports into Britain by six months. to ensure there are no delays.
He joins a chorus of Northern Ireland business groups looking for a period of time to adjust to the new border controls and customs agreements between the island of Ireland and Great Britain.
Stena said it is in the interest of both the EU and the UK “to prioritize trade flows over customs and agri-food controls at the border.” He said there would be “little risk” after the January 1 deadline for the end of the transition period, with the UK adopting the EU rules on Irish Sea trade.
Distribution centers
Stena said the freight logistics networks were geared towards processing and distribution centers in the UK, and it was “vital” that the UK “land bridge” route connecting the Republic of Ireland to continental Europe continue.
The company’s call comes as shipping lines increase the frequency of direct ferry travel between Ireland and mainland Europe, and introduce new routes to avoid Brexit-related delays in Britain as a result of border controls between the EU and the United Kingdom which will come into effect early next year. .
Stena, Europe’s largest ferry operator, said UK hubs that distribute products for the retail and pharmaceutical sectors have been established as part of the land bridge network.
“[They] you can’t just bypass a direct route, as you then lose a key part of the network, ”said Mr. Hampton.
“The land bridge remains the shortest route for Irish products to enter the EU market, and vice versa, so it is particularly vital for Ireland that the EU plays its role in keeping products moving through Greater Brittany and to the mainland “.
Load units
Stena transported 750,000 cargo units in the Irish Sea in 2019, and around 80 per cent of Irish exports move through its ports of Holyhead and Fishguard each year.
The Northern Ireland protocol, part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement agreed less than a year ago, is designed to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland by placing controls in the Irish Sea.
It was unclear whether it would come into operation, as the EU and the UK remained divided on how to implement the plan until they reached an agreement in principle on Tuesday.
The joint EU-UK committee, set up to determine how the protocol works, will publish more details on how the Irish Sea border will work in practice.
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