The Road Haulage Association (RHA) has outlined its key recommendations to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on moving goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Richard Smith RHA
In a letter to Hilary Benn, the RHA expressed deep concerns over significant operational costs and administrative burdens and a lack of clarity on business-to-business deliveries.
The RHA is calling for processes to be simplified including on Just-In-Time goods, and for the industry to be involved in reforms on GB-NI trade.
Richard Smith, RHA Managing Director, said: “We are committed to working alongside you to help to produce durable solutions which work for all to enhance Northern Ireland’s economy – whilst maintaining supply chains and minimising the impact on business and consumers.
“The role of hauliers is critical to successful trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and a robust and efficient GB-NI supply chain is crucial to the UK economy.”
He said he noted the Secretary of State’s recent comments that there will be minimal disruption with ‘a combination of mitigations, derogations and the operation of the Windsor Framework in good faith’.
But he stressed that this hasn’t been the industry’s experience to date and there are real concerns about the steps businesses must go through to send certain goods from GB to NI.
“We are concerned that this will worsen with the changes due in March 2025,” he added and asked the Northern Ireland Secretary for a meeting to discuss the issues and the RHA’s recommendations.
