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A British Parliament committee has said it is deeply concerned that no decision has been made on the location of customs facilities for the ports of Holyhead, Fishguard and Pembroke, with only 21 days left before the end of the Brexit transition period.
Holyhead is the UK’s second busiest roll-on / roll-off cargo port and about half of the outgoing cargo from Dublin Port passes through it.
The confusing state of customs preparation on the UK side could result in long delays for Irish truckers moving goods in and out of the country.
The Welsh government has prepared contingency plans on lined facilities that are not ready, including a plan to stack truck lines along the A55, which is the main road from the port that runs through North Wales.
As of January 1, the UK will be outside the EU Customs Union and all customs procedures will apply to goods moving between Ireland and Great Britain.
The UK Government has decided to introduce customs and food safety checks in three phases between January and July mainly because the computer systems to process the additional customs paperwork are not ready and the physical facilities to carry out the customs checks have not been built. released today, the UK Parliament’s Welsh Affairs Committee said that even with a delay in introducing large-scale customs controls until July, “there is an unacceptable level of risk that facilities are not ready even in the north nor in South West Wales for the introduction of border controls and processes in July 2021 “.
The committee said the decision on the location of the Holyhead customs facilities is made by the UK government, while the Welsh government is responsible for the location of the inland facilities to cover the ports of Pembroke and Fishguard.
He said the delays in choosing a location for Holyhead have had consequences on the other ports.
Jeremy Miles, General Counsel to the Government of Wales and European Transitional Minister told the committee that selecting a site for Holyhead was “the critical point in unlocking progress” for both January 1 and July 1.
As an interim measure, the UK government is proposing to carry out customs checks on trucks arriving in Holyhead from Ireland at the Warrington and Birmingham facilities, which are 160 km and 280 km respectively from the port of Holyhead.
The local district council rejected an initial proposal to locate a customs facility in a park and promenade near the port.
This week it was reported that the UK government bought a transport cafe and associated truck park to turn it into a customs facility.
Local media reported that a Roadking truck stop, opened in 2015, will be turned into a customs hub.
It has parking for 300 trucks. Staff told a local newspaper that about 24 people will be laid off at the Roadking café to make way for the customs center on one of the roads leading out of Holyhead.
The director of port operations for Stena, which operates the port of Holyhead, told the committee that he was concerned about the customs controls that will be carried out at the port of Dublin, where the port facilities have already been built.
Ian Davies cautioned that if there is congestion at Dublin Port, “it will post the schedules of the ferries that are operating, which will then have a ripple effect on Welsh ports, because when goods are checked into Welsh ports for export to Ireland, they must comply with the prior authorization of Irish regulations. “
While he told the committee that he was not as concerned about congestion caused by goods coming from Ireland, he was concerned about the consequent effects on Welsh ports in the event of disruptions at Irish ports.
Wales is more exposed to trade with the EU than the UK average: 61% compared to 43% at the UK level.
The committee’s report said that “securing a trade agreement with the EU is” therefore of particular importance to the Welsh economy. “
He said a “no deal” scenario runs the risk of having a disproportionately damaging effect on the Welsh economy.
The committee appeared to reject claims made by Prime Minister Boris Johnson that the UK will “prosper mightily” with or without a deal with the EU.
“We do not accept that this is a good outcome for the Welsh economy, or that a so-called ‘Australian-style deal’ is almost as good as the FTA that the UK is negotiating with the EU,” he said.
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