Any future agreement between the UK and the EU must reduce border friction, if the government is to achieve its growth mission, Logistics UK warned this week.
The warning comes ahead of the EU/UK Summit on 19 May, which will see representatives from the EU and Britain discuss border issues created by the current sanitary and phytosanitary measures, as well as tackling issues around defense, security, crime, emissions trading systems, migration and youth mobility.
Nichola Mallon, Logistics UK head of trade and devolved policy, said that any future agreement emerging from the summit must reduce border friction, if the government is to deliver economic growth.
She explained: “Our members, the businesses that move all the goods the country needs every day, are adamant the government must be ambitious when resetting relations with the EU and reviewing the existing UK EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
“The frictions that currently face traders – many of them caused by the need for inspections on exported and imported products of animal and plant origin - are slowing the movement of goods across the nation’s borders and into the UK’s supply chain.
Mallon said reducing border friction with the EU, which is its biggest trading partner, is key to achieving growth.
“The current requirement for Sanitary and PhytoSanitary (SPS) checks on plant and animal products being exported from GB to the EU and vice versa is adding time, bureaucracy and cost to UK traders and logistics operators, with SMEs and groupage operators disproportionately impacted.
“Since the UK’s decision to leave the EU was announced, Logistics UK has been constant in calling for a comprehensive SPS Agreement between both economies to speed up the passage of goods into and out of the country, while protecting the UK’s biosecurity.
“A mutually agreed SPS agreement would ease many of the logistics industry’s concerns about delays and disruption, which impacts the goods that factories, shops and, ultimately, consumers all rely on.
“To reduce trading friction, logistics businesses are also urging the UK government and EU to seek to reduce customs barriers at the border, particularly in Safety and Security Declarations as both seek to prioritise security and defence cooperation.
“As always, our industry stands ready to provide real-world advice and expertise to governments on both sides of the Channel to ease the passage of goods to the end user.”
