While attention has been on infection control and the Channel, it's Northern Ireland which is perhaps the most astonishing and far-reaching aspect of Brexit. So far. Its treatment suggests that it is now English nationalism that will determine whether the UK remains united. Scottish fish exports have become the first to run into problems with paperwork required before trucks leave the country, as well as when they reach France. They're being joined by others. The first eight days have had some allowance for change, but the "period of grace" is ending, and from hauliers to ferry firms and British suppliers of imported goods to the EU, firms are finding the new trading reality is complex and costly.
he real Brexit - the economic one - arrived alongside a sudden surge in the health crisis. There was relief that "no deal" was avoided, so while being told to stay at home, the nation's attention was, understandably, not on the seismic change that just took place in Britain's place in the world.
A week on, it may seem that the rupture with the European Union's single market and customs union has passed without casualty, while paling into insignificance beside the surge of hospitalisations and deaths, and renewed extraordinary restrictions on individual liberty.
But with fish, not so much. It was one of the big issues through the talks, beyond its relative importance to EU or UK economies. And because it has to be delivered super-fresh, it was the first sector to feel the frost of bureaucracy descend.
Within three days of normal service resuming, dozens of trucks were stuck in France. Calais wasn't ready to receive inbound fish, so drivers had to divert to the slower ferry option to Dunkirk.
From there, they need permission to go on to Boulogne-sur-Mer, where the border post is. It's also the marketplace for around 80% of UK fish produce exported into the EU. But there were glitches in French computer software.
"There's more wrong with their paperwork than there is right," I've been told. The feedback from France is that as much as 90% of the UK inbound paperwork is incorrect.
Only three days in, DFDS, at its logistics hub in Larkhall, was telling clients that a guaranteed one-day service was immediately shifting to three days at best. The difference translates into reduced value to that fish when it arrives at Boulogne-sur-Mer.
The Scottish Seafood Association was sending a message to skippers at sea that they may find quayside prices depressed when they return to port.
Garment trade Scottish fish were among the first to face the impact of Brexit, but they weren't alone. Supermarket shelves in Northern Ireland have been emptying, either through a rush to secure food, or because businesses simply aren't able to send fresh food as before. Some trucks were delayed as they arrived in Northern Ireland, because the paperwork wasn't right.
Wales is a major route for trucks taking goods into the Irish Republic. One logistics firm, Gwynedd Shipping, had a backlog of 60 trucks by Thursday, unable to generate the computer codes necessary to board ferries for Dublin. The queues may not be obvious, because the trucks are waiting at depots all over the country.
It was only this week that some major UK clothing retailers found that they face double tariffs if they import clothes, for instance, from outside the European Union, and then export them to Ireland and other EU nations.
It makes no sense to pay a 12% tariff on a finished garment, and then pay it again to send it to a shop in Dublin. A shirt from Bangladesh or Cambodia enters the UK tariff free, but a 12% tariff is applied at the EU boundary.
The lesson is clear: cut out the British element, and for goods destined for the EU, bypass the UK, along with any jobs involved.
Red tape DPD joined in the confusion. The logistics and delivery firm found sending goods from the UK into EU is much more complex than the planning had projected. By Thursday night, it was suspending all such parcel traffic, to review how best to handle the added hassle, delay and cost.
Meanwhile, Stena was warning commercial clients that from Friday morning they'll need a GMR (goods movement reference) number, as well as a PBN (pre-boarding notification). To give you a flavour of it, here's a small part of the advice from Ireland's revenue service, and it seems this even applies to freight moving between Scotland and Northern Ireland:
"All safety and security, customs declarations and transit declarations must be lodged prior to arrival at the ferry port of departure in the third country. Additionally, the Movement Reference Number (MRN) of the aforementioned declarations for all goods carried on a vehicle or trailer, must be included in a Pre-Boarding Notification to be submitted to Revenue prior to the arrival of the goods at the ferry port of departure in the third country.
"Failure to comply with this requirement is an offence, punishable on summary conviction of a fine of €5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both."
And all this applies even to empty trailers. You'll probably recall that Brexit was intended to remove the risk of strangulation by Brussels red tape.
Barriers Even when everyone knows what paperwork is required, and when it is being processed smoothly, it still carries cost. In the Scottish fish exporting trade, for just one example, 150,000 certificates will probably be needed annually.
Says Donna Fordyce, chief executive of Seafood Scotland: "The problem is no longer hypothetical. It is happening right now. We are doing all we can to help companies get the paperwork done. It will take time to fix - which we know many seafood companies can't afford right now.
"The last 24 hours has really delivered what was expected - new bureaucratic non-tariff barriers and no one body with the tools to be able to fix the situation" - least of all a prime minister who observed last week that the trade deal has left "no non-tariff barriers to trade".
Comments
While attention has been on infection control and the Channel, it's Northern Ireland which is perhaps the most astonishing and far-reaching aspect of Brexit. So far. Its treatment suggests that it is now English nationalism that will determine whether the UK remains united.
Scottish fish exports have become the first to run into problems with paperwork required before trucks leave the country, as well as when they reach France. They're being joined by others.
The first eight days have had some allowance for change, but the "period of grace" is ending, and from hauliers to ferry firms and British suppliers of imported goods to the EU, firms are finding the new trading reality is complex and costly.
he real Brexit - the economic one - arrived alongside a sudden surge in the health crisis. There was relief that "no deal" was avoided, so while being told to stay at home, the nation's attention was, understandably, not on the seismic change that just took place in Britain's place in the world.
A week on, it may seem that the rupture with the European Union's single market and customs union has passed without casualty, while paling into insignificance beside the surge of hospitalisations and deaths, and renewed extraordinary restrictions on individual liberty.
But with fish, not so much. It was one of the big issues through the talks, beyond its relative importance to EU or UK economies. And because it has to be delivered super-fresh, it was the first sector to feel the frost of bureaucracy descend.
Within three days of normal service resuming, dozens of trucks were stuck in France. Calais wasn't ready to receive inbound fish, so drivers had to divert to the slower ferry option to Dunkirk.
From there, they need permission to go on to Boulogne-sur-Mer, where the border post is. It's also the marketplace for around 80% of UK fish produce exported into the EU. But there were glitches in French computer software.
"There's more wrong with their paperwork than there is right," I've been told. The feedback from France is that as much as 90% of the UK inbound paperwork is incorrect.
Only three days in, DFDS, at its logistics hub in Larkhall, was telling clients that a guaranteed one-day service was immediately shifting to three days at best. The difference translates into reduced value to that fish when it arrives at Boulogne-sur-Mer.
The Scottish Seafood Association was sending a message to skippers at sea that they may find quayside prices depressed when they return to port.
Garment trade
Scottish fish were among the first to face the impact of Brexit, but they weren't alone. Supermarket shelves in Northern Ireland have been emptying, either through a rush to secure food, or because businesses simply aren't able to send fresh food as before. Some trucks were delayed as they arrived in Northern Ireland, because the paperwork wasn't right.
Wales is a major route for trucks taking goods into the Irish Republic. One logistics firm, Gwynedd Shipping, had a backlog of 60 trucks by Thursday, unable to generate the computer codes necessary to board ferries for Dublin. The queues may not be obvious, because the trucks are waiting at depots all over the country.
It was only this week that some major UK clothing retailers found that they face double tariffs if they import clothes, for instance, from outside the European Union, and then export them to Ireland and other EU nations.
It makes no sense to pay a 12% tariff on a finished garment, and then pay it again to send it to a shop in Dublin. A shirt from Bangladesh or Cambodia enters the UK tariff free, but a 12% tariff is applied at the EU boundary.
The lesson is clear: cut out the British element, and for goods destined for the EU, bypass the UK, along with any jobs involved.
Red tape
DPD joined in the confusion. The logistics and delivery firm found sending goods from the UK into EU is much more complex than the planning had projected. By Thursday night, it was suspending all such parcel traffic, to review how best to handle the added hassle, delay and cost.
Meanwhile, Stena was warning commercial clients that from Friday morning they'll need a GMR (goods movement reference) number, as well as a PBN (pre-boarding notification). To give you a flavour of it, here's a small part of the advice from Ireland's revenue service, and it seems this even applies to freight moving between Scotland and Northern Ireland:
"All safety and security, customs declarations and transit declarations must be lodged prior to arrival at the ferry port of departure in the third country. Additionally, the Movement Reference Number (MRN) of the aforementioned declarations for all goods carried on a vehicle or trailer, must be included in a Pre-Boarding Notification to be submitted to Revenue prior to the arrival of the goods at the ferry port of departure in the third country.
"Failure to comply with this requirement is an offence, punishable on summary conviction of a fine of €5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both."
And all this applies even to empty trailers. You'll probably recall that Brexit was intended to remove the risk of strangulation by Brussels red tape.
Barriers
Even when everyone knows what paperwork is required, and when it is being processed smoothly, it still carries cost. In the Scottish fish exporting trade, for just one example, 150,000 certificates will probably be needed annually.
Says Donna Fordyce, chief executive of Seafood Scotland: "The problem is no longer hypothetical. It is happening right now. We are doing all we can to help companies get the paperwork done. It will take time to fix - which we know many seafood companies can't afford right now.
"The last 24 hours has really delivered what was expected - new bureaucratic non-tariff barriers and no one body with the tools to be able to fix the situation" - least of all a prime minister who observed last week that the trade deal has left "no non-tariff barriers to trade".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-55584500