Drivers keep on trucking despite checks
THE first freight checks required under the terms of Brexit’s economic sea border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland have taken place.
The end of the transition period on New Year’s Eve brought into force the Northern Ireland Protocol, which sees the region operate under different regulatory and customs arrangements to the rest of the UK.
Northern Ireland is remaining in the single market for goods and is applying EU customs rules at its ports.
Customs declarations and additional regulatory checks are required on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. Trade in the other direction remains largely unfettered.
The first affected ferry into Northern Ireland on New Year’s Day docked in Belfast at 1.45pm having sailed from Cairnryan in
Dumfries and Galloway at 11.30am. About 14 freight lorries were joined by a handful of cars on the Stena Line vessel.
After the ferry docked, six lorries were diverted to a checking facility at the port operated by Stormont’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. One lorry driver said he experienced no issues getting through security and that “everything was fine”.
The checks were primarily documentfocused on Friday, with limited signs of physical inspections taking place. Similar processes were in operation at Larne Port.
Seamus Leheny, of hauliers body Logistics UK, said: “I expect the first couple of days will be relatively quiet with low freight volumes, and we’ll get a bigger picture of how it pans out by the middle of next week.”