Logistics UK is urging both sides in the Brexit negotiations to focus on achieving a consensus in order to protect economies on both sides of the Channel from the impact of a potential No Deal outcome. Elizabeth de Jong, the business group’s policy director, is encouraging negotiators to take a pragmatic view in order to protect the interests of those charged with keeping supply chains open:
“Neither side would benefit from a No Deal outcome”, she says. “Both sides should be seeking to avoid tariffs which would make everyday household items we import more expensive, some by up to 30%. Without a deal, the cross-Channel logistics sector cannot function. With no agreement currently in place for HGV access to and from the EU, many logistics companies cannot be certain if they can operate next year and cannot plan their work. This puts the country’s entire supply chain at risk.
“Many deadlines have slipped and been reassessed over the past few months, but time really is now running out if the treaty is to be ratified in time for the New Year. Business needs and deserves certainty over the terms in which the economy will operate from 1st January 2021 – this further delay to the talks between the two sides leaves international hauliers and traders in limbo, with little or no time to implement new business processes. Logistics is agile and flexible but is running out of time to make the necessary transition to new trading arrangements.”
Logistics UK (formerly FTA) is one of the UK’s leading business groups, representing logistics businesses which are vital to keeping the UK trading, and more than seven million people directly employed in the making, selling and moving of goods. With COVID-19, Brexit, new technology and other disruptive forces driving change in the way goods move across borders and through the supply chain, logistics has never been more important to UK plc. Logistics UK supports, shapes and stands up for safe and efficient logistics, and is the only business group which represents the whole industry, with members from the road, rail, sea and air industries, as well as the buyers of freight services such as retailers and manufacturers whose businesses depend on the efficient movement of goods. For more information about the organisation and its work, including its ground-breaking research into the impacts of COVID-19 on the whole supply chain, please visit logistics.org.uk
