ICMSA welcome EU legal text but say Brexit confusion is just getting worse

THE President of ICMSA, Pat McCormack, said that while the publication of the legal text that would effectively keep Northern Ireland in the single market and customs union after Brexit is welcome, if anything the level of confusion around the future border arrangements between the two jurisdictions on the island of Ireland is growing given the political wrangling surrounding such an agreement.

“No-one is pretending that this is simple and, certainly, things are not helped by senior British politicians apparently discounting commitments previously given and which have been accepted as presenting a sincere position.

“But ICMSA’s members and agri-related businesses are now looking at all this and, like other exporting sectors operating on both sides of the border, are wondering when we’re going to see the degree of clarity that we desperately need.

“We’re just over a year away from the effective date and we still have nothing to go on; nothing that allows us to plan or predict.

“While the politicians argue, businesses planning is frozen and this cannot continue for another year.

“In the interests of every individual and business on both sides of the border, we would want to have some framework settled very, very quickly that allow businesses like farmers to plan accordingly”, concluded Mr McCormack.