The EU-UK trade negotiation will commence over the coming weeks and – if the UK government maintains its position – will conclude by the end of this year, whether agreement is in place or not.
Achieving a comprehensive trade agreement in this time frame is difficult, if not impossible. One way that it can happen is for the UK to accept EU standards and tariff arrangements but this is at variance of the stated policy position of the UK government who have said they will no longer be bound by EU rules.
As the map illustrates, the EU either have trade deals in place or are in negotiation with numerous countries around the world on putting an agreement in place.
When the UK leaves the EU, it ceases to avail of these trade deal and has to make its own separate arrangements
This 2018 map is already out of date because since then a deal with Mercosur has been agreed, and the Japan deal has been ratified and in place.
When the UK leaves the EU, it ceases to avail of these trade deal and has to make its own separate arrangements.
The UK will now be looking to join this list of countries with a fast-track negotiation. There is an advantage of sorts in that everything starts in the same place and it is a case of managing divergence.
More than tariffs
The common feature of trade deals is the elimination of more than 95% of tariffs on goods and services traded.
However, the other feature of international trade is non-tariff barriers or regulation of standards between the trading partners. An example of this is that Irish sheep meat doesn’t yet have access to the USA, even though if it was it wouldn’t carry a tariff.
Similarly with China, there is a tariff in place, but it wouldn’t be insurmountable while Japan has only in the past year given the green light to Irish sheepmeat exports.
The level of agreement dictates the level of checks
What this means in the context of Brexit is that even if there are low or zero tariffs, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks will be required on produce entering the island of Ireland from Britain.
The level of agreement dictates the level of checks. For example, in Brazil after the operation weak flesh incident in 2017, the EU introduced 100% checks at EU ports for meat imports from Brazil.
However, where there is a comprehensive free-trade agreement in place, checks are at an extremely low level as is the case with Canadian imports. Nonetheless, there are still checks and this will mean bureaucracy and a blockage to lorries arriving in Irish ports.
As Lorcan Allen reported in June 2019, Dublin Port have invested €30m and the Government are increasing staffing by 800 to deal with the checks that will be required at the end of this year.
Finishing touches to new inspection lanes. An area has also been set aside for DAFM inspections.
Three hectares of space have been set aside for SPS checks by Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and new inspection lanes have been added to handle the 850,000 units that roll off ferries arriving from Britain every year.
All change
The ambition of a deal on the future trading relationship is that it is comprehensive enough to minimise the level of checks required but there will be checks.
In practical terms, this means lorries going through the inspection lanes as opposed to the current situation where they drive off the boat and keep going.
When stock levels hit a critical point, fresh supplies are automatically ordered and replaced on a daily basis
This has implications for Irish supermarkets who are huge importers of food from the UK. They work on a just-in-time strategy where store stocks are monitored by sales scanned through the tills.
When stock levels hit a critical point, fresh supplies are automatically ordered and replaced on a daily basis. Delays at port inspections could lead to empty shelves for periods until delivery times are adjusted to fit the new circumstances.
Read more
Dublin Port: welcome to Brexitland
Options for EU-UK trade deals after Brexit
Brexit countdown: battle for product standards
Brexit day looms as Barnier hits Belfast
The EU-UK trade negotiation will commence over the coming weeks and – if the UK government maintains its position – will conclude by the end of this year, whether agreement is in place or not.
Achieving a comprehensive trade agreement in this time frame is difficult, if not impossible. One way that it can happen is for the UK to accept EU standards and tariff arrangements but this is at variance of the stated policy position of the UK government who have said they will no longer be bound by EU rules.
As the map illustrates, the EU either have trade deals in place or are in negotiation with numerous countries around the world on putting an agreement in place.
When the UK leaves the EU, it ceases to avail of these trade deal and has to make its own separate arrangements
This 2018 map is already out of date because since then a deal with Mercosur has been agreed, and the Japan deal has been ratified and in place.
When the UK leaves the EU, it ceases to avail of these trade deal and has to make its own separate arrangements.
The UK will now be looking to join this list of countries with a fast-track negotiation. There is an advantage of sorts in that everything starts in the same place and it is a case of managing divergence.
More than tariffs
The common feature of trade deals is the elimination of more than 95% of tariffs on goods and services traded.
However, the other feature of international trade is non-tariff barriers or regulation of standards between the trading partners. An example of this is that Irish sheep meat doesn’t yet have access to the USA, even though if it was it wouldn’t carry a tariff.
Similarly with China, there is a tariff in place, but it wouldn’t be insurmountable while Japan has only in the past year given the green light to Irish sheepmeat exports.
The level of agreement dictates the level of checks
What this means in the context of Brexit is that even if there are low or zero tariffs, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks will be required on produce entering the island of Ireland from Britain.
The level of agreement dictates the level of checks. For example, in Brazil after the operation weak flesh incident in 2017, the EU introduced 100% checks at EU ports for meat imports from Brazil.
However, where there is a comprehensive free-trade agreement in place, checks are at an extremely low level as is the case with Canadian imports. Nonetheless, there are still checks and this will mean bureaucracy and a blockage to lorries arriving in Irish ports.
As Lorcan Allen reported in June 2019, Dublin Port have invested €30m and the Government are increasing staffing by 800 to deal with the checks that will be required at the end of this year.
Finishing touches to new inspection lanes. An area has also been set aside for DAFM inspections.
Three hectares of space have been set aside for SPS checks by Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and new inspection lanes have been added to handle the 850,000 units that roll off ferries arriving from Britain every year.
All change
The ambition of a deal on the future trading relationship is that it is comprehensive enough to minimise the level of checks required but there will be checks.
In practical terms, this means lorries going through the inspection lanes as opposed to the current situation where they drive off the boat and keep going.
When stock levels hit a critical point, fresh supplies are automatically ordered and replaced on a daily basis
This has implications for Irish supermarkets who are huge importers of food from the UK. They work on a just-in-time strategy where store stocks are monitored by sales scanned through the tills.
When stock levels hit a critical point, fresh supplies are automatically ordered and replaced on a daily basis. Delays at port inspections could lead to empty shelves for periods until delivery times are adjusted to fit the new circumstances.
Read more
Dublin Port: welcome to Brexitland
Options for EU-UK trade deals after Brexit
Brexit countdown: battle for product standards
Brexit day looms as Barnier hits Belfast
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