(Alliance News) - Ireland has ramped up direct shipping routes to mainland Europe since the end of the Brexit transition period, seeking new passages to the EU bypassing freight jams feared at UK borders.
Every year 150,000 trucks use the "UK landbridge" to transport three million tonnes of freight between the Republic and the European mainland.
Trucks sail by roll-on/roll-off ferries from Irish ports and mainland Britain, driving onwards to shipping hubs in southeast England, then on to continental Europe.
Britain left the EU in January last year, but remained bound by the bloc's rules until December 31 as it sought to define the terms of its new relationship with Brussels.
Even though tariff- and quota-free trade was secured in a last-minute deal, Britain's exit from Europe's single market and customs union meant an end to frictionless freight transit through UK-EU port borders.
"Declarations, regulatory checks, controls... will now be a factor because the UK has left the EU," warned Tom Talbot, of Irish Revenue, at Dublin Port on Monday.
"Because of that there will be delays."
Many Irish hauliers are already charting new routes guaranteeing freight remains inside the single market and customs union, and outside the scope of delay.
source: AFP
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