Logistics UK has told the government it must make the Northern Ireland protocol work effectively to cover the country’s force chain.
The business group met with foreign clerk Liz Truss this week and its NI policy director Seamus Leheny said it had prompted the UK and EU to agree to mitigations on the protocol and cover trading connections for the benefit of businesses on both sides of the Irish Sea.
Truss said the emphasis was on chancing a negotiated result but she advised that the situation would not be allowed to “drift”.
Leheny said “ Logistics UK is keen to work with parties from both the UK and EU to ensure that trade can continue to flow freely across the Irish Sea and has committed to engaging with both EU stakeholders and with government mates to impact the European Commission to come to the table for conversations.
“ presently, the NI Protocol is only being incompletely applied due to grace ages – it’s vital we avoid full perpetration that would affect in added administration and walls to GB and NI trade. ”
Leheny added that areas stressed in the meeting included business-to-consumer parcels, SPS controls, and an implicit Trusted Trader scheme for GB goods fated to NI.
“ As a business group, our primary concern is to work constructively with the government on systems and procedures and support all those involved to make the protocol work as efficiently as possible, ” he said.
“ Political positions mustn’t be allowed to ail the process on which so numerous peoples ’ livelihoods depend, and we remain married to relating and driving forwards results to iron out the problems which have arisen therefore far regarding the protocol and its perpetration. ”
While on her visit to Northern Ireland, Truss said “We’ve had months of concession with the EU and our preference remains a negotiated result, but what we cannot allow is for this situation to drift.
“ We do have difficulties with companies not being suitable to get goods into Northern Ireland and there’s an issue as well of costs. ”
She added that the result was to “remove customs bureaucracy whilst at the same time guarding the EU’s single request to resolve this situation”.