A few days ago The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) apparently held a round table meeting with Chris Grayling, the Transport Minister, to discuss Brexit and they published an update on their website HERE. It's not terribly reassuring at least not to me. Kevin Richardson, the Chief Executive of CILT, represented logistics and transport professionals at the recent meeting on August 9th. Road Hauliers at the meeting were unimpressed - to say the least - see below for their opinion of Grayling.
"Reflecting on the meeting, Kevin Richardson said: “CILT is pleased to work with the DfT and other Government Departments in the greater good of the national interest. Logistics and transport are key to our citizens’ freedoms, security, and national prosperity – and frictionless borders are essential. All must now play their part; inaction is not an option, and everyone should collaborate on creating the most effective and efficient solutions for our future outside the EU, as a significant global player.”
"CILT has coined and long-championed that frictionless borders are crucial. The Government has stated that it is seeking ‘free flowing borders’ and that ‘liberalised access’ was being requested and offered by the UK. There is no doubt that excessive queues, delays in transit and extensive border checks would not help anybody and would especially hurt the consumer and economies, in all countries. This is a particular issue for time perishable products, including fresh produce and work in progress movements".
One is tempted to say we got to "frictionless borders" as a result of the single market and the customs union, the very things the government, Chris Grayling included, has flatly rejected.
"The meeting learned that a number of truck management plans were underway, focusing on the Kent corridor to accommodate queues if required and necessary because of restrictions beyond UK border points. Such queues would predominantly impact EU hauliers as well as those EU countries exporting to the UK. The Government believes that such issues should promote reasonable negotiations in the best interest of the European neighbourhood".
If Grayling and the CILT think only EU hauliers will be affected he has another think coming. No logistics company is going to send trucks to the UK if they don't know when they'll get back!
"Plans already underway include; vehicle management planning within the UK for export flows, permit systems, International Driving Licences, bilateral agreements, European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) and Trailer Registration systems. It is not planned that additional checks at the border will be conducted, and risk based interventions – as currently undertaken for deep sea movements – may be used and potentially carried out away from ports of entry".
Grayling's idea of having no checks is totally against WTO rules so I'm not sure how that will work out. And asking for "clarity" is just whistling in the wind, as is assessing non UK EU labour. Companies can't get EU employees now, how they will manage after March next year is anybody's guess.
"During the meeting, CILT requested that the Government provides clarity on plans and timelines to assist businesses in their contingency planning; as well as to conduct research and assess logistics capacity against the demands of the nation under different scenarios, so that major gaps, risks and the implications for private and public sector investment can be determined. This should include assessments on access to non-UK EU labour on which the profession is heavily dependent".
The Road Haulage Association was at the same meeting but got a completely different take on it (HERE). Richard Burnett, Chief Executive of the RHA said: “Do we feel that today’s meeting has achieved something? No. Are we confident that the issue will be resolved? No. Have we finally received clarity? No".
And now The Telegraph are reporting anonymous comments from the RHA (HERE) that the government has no credible plan and the Grayling himself didn't seem to be aware that British lorry drivers would not be able to carry goods on the continent if the UK crashes out of the bloc without a deal! This was in an EU Notice to Stakeholders issued in January!!! (HERE). What has he been doing???
It's quite clear the Transport Minister, the completely hapless Chris Grayling presented no firm plans at all with a little over seven months to go to the cliff edge, we still have nothing beyond an assurance that truck management plans were "underway". CILT were trying to be helpful by suggesting the government encourage AEO status among EU exporters:
“The Institute has been consistent in its advice to government through our Brexit round table meetings, Select Committee responses and our involvement in advisory groups. One area that CILT has been advocating for many months is the importance of Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) accreditation as a means of supporting international supply chains in customs applications and processing.”
But I think this is quite an involved process at any time, let alone when there might be a rush! We have about 600 companies with AEO status - Germany has over 6000! And listen to this from a website that deals with these matters (HERE):
"The authorisation process is very involved because the aim is that, once granted, the AEO status will mean businesses are permitted to import and export with minimum interruption from officials as they have already been officially declared as safe operators. As a result, HMRC examine all aspects of the Customs and/or security procedures within a business and they test these extensively. Although the length of the authorisation process depends on the complexity of the business and application it will usually take 9 - 12 months. It is vital that if you think your business may be affected you should act now".
So, with seven months to go, the advice is to begin a process that usually takes 9-12 months!!
