Summary
Amid growing concerns over Ireland’s vulnerability to disruption of freight movements across the UK ‘land bridge’, the Irish government has indicated it is open to mobilising public support for direct ferry operation between the mainland EU and the Republic of Ireland. However, this will require faster and better planned freight ferry services in line with the needs of Irish businesses. From an ACP perspective two dimension of these discussions stand out: first the emergence of a greater range of options for cargo shipments direct to the Republic of Ireland, avoiding the UK ‘land bridge’; second the establishment by the EU of ‘green lane’ border clearance arrangement for Irish freight shipments using the UK ‘land bridge’ upon landing at mainland EU border control posts. If a similar ‘green lane’ approach were adopted by the UK to the handling of ACP cargoes delivered to the UK market via initial landings in the mainland EU, this could greatly facilitate the continued smooth functioning of ACP supply chains delivering short shelf life products to the UK market via the mainland EU. Such a solution would appear to be urgently needed, if future orders for delivery to the UK market in 2021 are not to be lost by ACP fresh produce exporters.
Following appeals from the Irish Road Haulage Association, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has announced the Irish government is willing to mobilise public subsidies for direct ferry routes between the Republic of Ireland and the mainland Europe ‘if necessary’ and ‘if that makes sense’ (1). To date, dialogues with the ferry companies have suggested such a move at the present time could prove ‘more disruptive’. While a number of new direct ferry services have been established (2) and additional sailings have been introduced along existing routes, ‘demand has not yet shifted from the faster UK land bridge’ route (1).
Against this background Foreign Minister Coveney has ‘urged companies to begin testing direct sea routes from next month’ (November), in preparation for the disruption which is likely along the UK ‘land bridge’ route to mainland EU markets from January 2021 (1).
There is a growing awareness of the ‘extreme vulnerability’ to disruption of Irelands ‘land bridge’ to mainland EU markets following ‘serious delays from migrant and security checks at Dover port’ in the first weeks of September. This limited border control action generated 9 hour delays in the delivery of cargoes.
The President of the Irish Road Haulage Association, Eugene Drennan, said this recent experience highlighted how ‘any interference with the passage of Irish drivers through the UK land bridge, whether by political manoeuvrings or administrative zeal, will have cataclysmic impacts on Irish trade’ (3).
It is estimated ‘some 150,000 Irish lorries use the ‘land bridge’ every year’, carrying in 2016 some ‘€18 billion in exports and €3 billion in imports’, accounting for ‘40 per cent of Irish exports and 13 per cent of imports’. Currently, journey times across the UK ‘land bridge’ take less than 20 hours, compared to 40 hours on direct ferry journeys to continental Europe.
Eugene Drennan called for ‘a faster ferry service to Le Havre’, to reduce journey times to 16 hours, a perfectly reasonable target, if ferries were operated on a basis which suited the needs of Irish industry (3). He called for the use of ‘dedicated EU connectivity money set aside for Brexit’ to subsidise such ferry services (1). He further called for the Irish Government ‘to step in to regulate existing ferry timetables to run routes when required rather than on “competitor ferry company timings or UK port preferences’. Finally a call was made for changes to ‘driver regulations permitting hauliers to count the time spent on direct ferries as rest time’. Such a regulatory change would enable ‘lorry drivers to make up the lost time on the direct routes instead of the land bridge’.
An important development from an ACP perspective is the creation by mainland EU member states of ‘green lane systems that bypass customs checks for Irish origin trucks arriving in EU ports from the UK with sealed containers’ (1). It was acknowledged that despite this EU initiative problems were likely to remain on the UK side unless a special initiative is taken. In this context, Foreign Minister Coveney suggested it ‘would be naïve’ to think the UK authorities would be willing to just ‘wave Irish trucks to the front of the queue out of some kind of good will gesture’.
These calls and the Irish governments response needs to be seen in the context of the likely scale of road freight disruptions which are likely to arise from 1st January 2021. This is seeing UK exporters of short shelf life products contemplating a ‘pause’ on exports to mainland EU markets in the early weeks of 2021, for fear of consignments simply rotting in the roadside (see companion epamonitoring.net article, ‘If Negotiations Fail No Deal trade Effects Likely to be Felt in Final Weeks of 2020, 27 October 2020).
| Comment and Analysis From an ACP perspective two dimensions of the discussions around the future movement of cargoes from the Republic of Ireland across the UK ‘land bridge’ to the mainland EU stand out. The first of these relates to the establishment by the EU of ‘green lane’ border clearance arrangement for Irish freight shipments using the UK ‘land bridge’ upon arrival at mainland EU border control posts.There have long been calls for the establishment of special arrangements for the handling of ACP products delivered to the UK market via initial ports of landing in the EU. These supply chains have been built up over the 25 years to take advantage of the economies of scale to be gained from the intercontinental shipping of goods to single distribution hubs in Europe from where cargoes are broken down into pallets or even boxed for onward shipping to final customers across the EU. Addressing the Brexit related problems which will arise along these triangular supply chains would appear an important component of the UK governments commitment to ensuring ‘continuity’ in trade relations with developing countries, despite the UK’s withdrawal from the EU customs union and single market. The solution for ACP fresh produce exports using triangular supply chains (which are the most vulnerable to such disruptions) would appear straight forward enough. It would simply require the establishment of ‘green land’ border clearance arrangements, which avoid any need for physical checks, on both sides of the channel for electronically pre-notified cargoes which have recently arrived in the EU from developing country supplies which enjoy duty free/quota free access to both the UK and EU markets, and have been subjected to phytosanitary and safety and security import controls upon entry to the EU. Such products would have an extremely low risk assessment when onward traded to the UK and hence would not warrant physical inspections, beyond those inspections normally carried out for drugs and people smuggling based on police or security service intelligence. Such a ‘green lane’ approach could be established on the EU side based on the precedent of the current initiative taken for Irish hauliers using the UK ‘land bridge’. However, this would require the UK government to adopt a similar ‘green lane’ approach to the handling of ACP cargoes delivered to the UK market via the EU, based on their commitment to ensuring ‘continuity’ in trade relations with developing countries. Such concerted UK and EU action would greatly facilitate the continued smooth functioning of ACP supply chains delivering short shelf life products to the UK market via the mainland EU (e.g. cut flowers, see companion epamonitoring.net article ‘Cut flowers Sector Concerns Over proposed UK Border Controls Highlighted’, 21st September 2020). Such a solution would appear to be urgently needed, if future orders for delivery to the UK market in 2021 are not to be lost by ACP fresh produce exporters. The second dimension relates to the emergence of a greater range of options for cargo shipments direct to the Republic of Ireland, avoiding the UK ‘land bridge’. While it is unclear to what extent ACP agri-food exports destined for markets in the Republic of Ireland are landed in the Netherlands, Belgium, France or Spain (e.g. for Dominican Rum), prior to onward shipment using the UK ‘land-bridge’, it is now apparent that a growing range of options for onward direct shipment to the Republic of Ireland are likely to emerge in the coming months. These routes could offer attractive return cargo freight rates given the imbalance in the value of Irish imports and exports which use the UK ‘land bridge’. This however may require changes to the initial ports of landing for ACP exports in the mainland EU, to bring them closer to the ferry terminals directly serving markets in the Republic of Ireland by faster better organised freight ferry services. |
Sources:
(1) Irish Times, ‘Government may subsidise direct ferry routes to EU post-Brexit, says Coveney’, 9 October 2020
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/government-may-subsidise-direct-ferry-routes-to-eu-post-brexit-says-coveney-1.4376891
(2) Business live, ‘Brittany Ferries predicts freight boost after ‘season to forget’ for passenger travel’, 13 October 2020
https://www.fpcfreshtalkdaily.co.uk/single-post/brittany-ferries-predicts-freight-boost-after-season-to-forget-for-passenger-travel
(3) Irish Times, ‘Irish hauliers seek State help to bypass UK ‘land bridge’, 21 September 2020
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/brexit-irish-hauliers-seek-state-help-to-bypass-uk-land-bridge-1.4359886