FTA is monitoring the trade between the UK and Northern Ireland

Posted on Tuesday, May 5th by

FTA, one of Britain's largest trade associations, has spoken about Northern Ireland Protocol Policy Report, a report that members across the industry believe would help to maintain the trade between Northern Ireland and the UK profitable after the end of the Brexit transition period.  

The Policy Manager for Northern Ireland at FTA, Seamus Leheny, declared: "Logistics is an adaptable and resilient industry; we are determined to make a success of the protocol and this report is designed to assist the government in this shared ambition. The protocol puts NI in the unique position of being able to trade freely with the UK and EU while protecting all-island supply chains on the island of Ireland, however, we must ensure NI businesses are not disadvantaged within the UK internal market by any burdensome financial or practical barriers to this trade. In FTA's Report, we set out the agreed text of the protocol and detail how we believe this will translate into the practical movement of goods between NI and GB under the new, post-transition UK-EU relationship. We have launched the report today (30 April 2020) to coincide with the next official government meeting on the protocol; it is vital the government listens to the guidance of industry and understands the measures it should take to keep goods moving as efficiently as possible.

 In the report are further highlighted potential measures the government should consider regarding the development of NI-GB future trade. FTA also focuses on protecting the current trade, and on establishing the actions needed to secure the continued efficient movement for those freight movements.  

Seamus Leheny also stated: "Flexible, frictionless trade between NI and GB is vitally important to the continued success of our economy (...) and the logistics industry is committed to protecting supply chains and continuing to move goods across the Irish Sea as seamlessly as possible.  Northern Ireland's future prosperity depends on the protocol being implemented with minimum disruptions and we stand ready to work with both Stormont and Westminster to ensure that NI's businesses and trade remain as resilient as possible in the coming months and years."

FTA is one of the UK's biggest business organisations and the representative of logistics businesses which play a very important role for UK trading. 


Source: Forwarder Magazine