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The first ferry has arrived at Dublin Port under new trade rules following the end of the Brexit transition period.<\/p>\nThe first ferry has arrived at Dublin Port under new trade rules following the end of the Brexit transition period.<\/p>\n
Irish Ferries\u2019 ship Ulysses docked at 5.55am with about a dozen trucks on board, having travelled from Holyhead in Wales.<\/p>\n
There were no delays as the freight trailers cleared customs checks for the first time under the new rules.<\/p>\n
After 47 years as an EU member state, the UK left the bloc at 11pm on New Year\u2019s Eve, becoming a third country for trade purposes and customs declarations.<\/p>\n
New documentation and red tape is now required between EU member states and Britain, which is anticipated to cause massive delays at ports in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n
A small number of ships arrived after 11pm on Thursday night, but they were covered by the previous arrangements.<\/p>\n
Irish haulers have warned of \u201cmayhem\u201d at ports in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n
Eugene Drennan, president of the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA), said on New Year\u2019s Eve that haulers are bracing themselves for \u201ctrouble and chaos\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe systems have not been tested, they have not been tried,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will be delays, for sure. The mayhem that\u2019s coming in Dublin Port is unbelievable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve done nothing to alleviate it. They have a plan that is absolutely nonsensical, and the nature of it and how it is laid out and the structure of it, it is going to cause a lot of grief.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will be trouble and chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Drennan predicted issues at ports across the island for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be a big issue,\u201d he said. \u201cFour boats arriving in at the same time in the morning. All this regulation. There\u2019s no space for a driver to pull up at Dublin Port. There\u2019s no facilities and all the money that has been spent. It\u2019s outrageous.\u201d<\/p>\n
He questioned why all the paperwork is necessary when a deal has been reached.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the burning question: why do we need all this regulation if there are no tariffs?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was bureaucracy up to this because they were leaving the EU.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that they\u2019re leaving with a deal and agreement, why is all that needed? Why are we putting the cost on business? Why are we going through all these hoops?\u201d<\/p>\n
He said many businesses had stockpiled goods in advance of Brexit because \u201cthey feared tariffs, they feared cost and they feared supply\u201d.<\/p>\n
Aidan Flynn, general manager of the Freight Transport Association of Ireland (FTAI), said there will be a period of \u201cunprecedented change\u201d for the movement of goods and delays are \u201cinevitable\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no tariffs but there are obligations for red tape, administrative burdens such as import\/export declarations and additional checks for products of animal origin,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhilst industry has done its best to prepare for it, there\u2019s nothing like dealing with it in real time and there has not been much time to prepare.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Flynn added that New Year is traditionally a quiet time for freight but he predicted that once goods start moving next week there will be delays.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality is that having to input information into systems that haven\u2019t been robustly tested is going to deliver inevitable problems for industry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we are really hoping for is that a pragmatic approach is taken by key stakeholders like Revenue and the Department of Agriculture.”<\/p>\n