The Brexit fallout: we are only trading half as much with UK

TRADE between Ireland and Britain has halved post-Brexit, worrying figures released yesterday show.

One month after the end of the Brexit transition period, trade volumes on routes between here and Britain were just 50% of January 2020’s total, but are continuing to pick up week by week.

However, freight volumes travelling direct to Europe have doubled over the same period, as many exporters look to avoid delays and red tape when using Britain as a ‘land bridge’ to Europe.

A Government spokesman explained: ‘There is no one issue contributing to the lower volumes, rather the combination of a number of factors including Brexit stockpiling, Covid-19 restrictions, new Brexit checks and controls and the emergence of new direct services with additional capacity on European routes – freight volumes on these services are up 100% on last year.

‘We are seeing a slow and steady increase in freight vehicle movements into Ireland from Britain – from 61 inbound movements on January 1 and 2 to a peak of 1,334 on January 28-29.

‘There was an approximate 11% weekon-week increase in freight vehicle movements into Ireland from Britain when we compare this week with last.’

Revenue, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the HSE have 24-hour operations at Dublin Port and helplines to help smooth traffic through the docks.

New customs formalities and, where relevant, agri-food controls, are required now that Britain is fully outside the European Union and Single Market. These checks ensure that Ireland fulfils its obligations as a member of the EU. However, the new requirements also mean that the seamless trading arrangements that existed until the end of 2020 no longer exist.

New checks are inevitably taking additional time, but this time can be minimised through the completion of necessary procedures in advance, which will prevent fresh produce going off.