Matt Shanahan: Warns of Risks to Food and Fishing After UK Deal
Matt Shanahan congratulated President Biden on his investiture and addressed the impact of the EU-UK trade agreement on Ireland's trading relationship with the UK, warning that new regulatory constraints and transport costs threaten food, agri and fishing sectors. He urged the government to convene a task force, designate Dunmore East as an approved landing port, invest in ports and rail, and prioritise contingency funding for primary producers.
Concerns for food and agri exports
Matt Shanahan said the UK becoming a third country has ended frictionless trade and created increased regulation, transport costs and delays for food and agri exporters. He highlighted phytosanitary checks, origin certificates and a shortage of trained customs clearance agents as drivers of delay and cost, and warned that up to eight separate, non-integrated software systems are being used to prepare export documentation.
Fishing sector and Dunmore East
He warned of reduced access and catch for Irish fishermen in UK and EU fishing grounds and asked the government to liaise with the fishing sector on financial assistance for future quota losses. He called for the Department of Agriculture to designate Dunmore East as a port where UK-registered catches can be offloaded, citing on-site processing facilities and fisheries protection officers as reasons to approve the harbour to shorten landing times and reduce carbon footprint.
Port and freight alternatives
Matt Shanahan welcomed new direct services at Ross Lair by DFTS and Stenna Line operators as exporters look beyond the UK land bridge. He noted Waterford Port at Bellevue as a viable bulk port in the south east and urged capital investment in Irish Rail to develop rail freight along a western rail corridor, expanding import-export options for businesses.
Regulatory fixes and task force call
He described the current clearance and documentation situation as perilous for the sector and asked the government to convene a specific task force to resolve customs, phytosanitary and software integration issues. He argued that governmental agencies must respond with urgency to the policy-driven constraints now affecting trade logistics.
Funding and policy priorities
Matt Shanahan noted ongoing discussion of Brexit contingency funding and urged that support prioritise primary producers in the food and agri sector and manufacturing firms likely to bear the largest cost of new trading arrangements. He stressed that policy choices have created the constraints and that policy responses should help firms adapt.
Assessment of the agreement
He welcomed the negotiated EU-UK agreement as a welcome settlement in principle and said Ireland's position has been vindicated by EU colleagues. He emphasised that the UK remains Ireland's largest trading partner and expressed hope that new ways of doing business will preserve and manage the bilateral relationship.
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As a member of the Irish Parliament, I would like to congratulate President Biden today on his investiture as President of the United States and we hope he will continue to foster and promote the strong relationship and ties that exist between Ireland and the U.S. Minister, after four years of intense discussion and political posturing, a negotiated future trade agreement between the EU and the UK is very welcome. The major issues with respect to Ireland's situation regarding our trading and political relationship with the UK appears to be largely settled in principle. Now, albeit in practice, the new regulatory constraints resulting are only fast becoming apparent. I would like to acknowledge the work undertaken by our European offices and our government departments, which have ensured continuing support of the EU Commission to a fair resolution of the UK withdrawal agreement, particularly with respect to Brexit implications for Ireland, particularly with respect to Brexit implications for Ireland. The UK has been for many years one of our largest trading partners and is our most accessible market, particularly for our food and agri sector. The fact that the UK is now considered a third country has completely changed the previous frictionless trade relationship and in the area of food and agri exports, I believe this poses the greatest risk in terms of a loss of competitiveness. This is due to the increased regulation and the increased transport costs being forced on the sector. Our fishermen face a significant reduction in access and catch over the coming years in UK and EU fishing grounds and I would ask that government liaise now specifically with the fishing sector in respect of financial assistance to the future loss of a quota. I would also ask that the Department of Agriculture include Dunmore East as a designated port for UK registered vessel catch to be offloaded. Dunmore East Harbour has both processing facilities on site as well as fisheries protection officers to provide the necessary oversight on its inclusion to this list of approved landing ports in Ireland. This is needed to shorten the landing times and also reduce the carbon footprint for those accessing southern fishing grounds. As a consequence of delays in accessing the UK land bridge, exporters are now looking to new direct routes to the continent and I welcome the additional service provided at Ross Lair by DFTS and Stenna Line operators. I would remind government also that we have a very viable bulk port in the south east which is Waterford Port at Bellevue. Potential exists here to develop rail freight from this port through a western rail corridor. I hope to see capital investment into Irish Rail in the near future to achieve this strategic objective which can benefit so many businesses who require additional import-export options. One of the new learnings that has come to light is the incredible amount of regulation now required to move agricultural based product to and from the UK. It is apparent we do not have enough trained customs clearance agents and beyond that the phytosanitary checks and origin certificates are causing major delays and costs to Irish exporters. I have been informed Minister that up to eight different software systems which are not integrated are now being used to develop documentation for food exports to the UK and that these systems are not integrated with revenue either. This is a perilous situation for our food and agri sector and I would ask that government now immediately convene a specific task force to look at these issues and provide resolution. We have for years noted our export performance and rightly so but the indigenous producers in this country cannot make up the ground that will be lost by failure to resolve these logistical and clearance issues as soon as possible. Government has always reminded us that it does not create employment but rather sets the policies to assist market demand. These new constraints and restrictions have arisen as a result of policy changes and we need to see governmental agencies and departments responding with appropriate urgency and attention to these transport issues. The issue of Brexit contingency funding has also been spoken about by government and I know there are many sectors who feel they need support over the coming months in order to adapt to new trading conditions. I hope that in framing this policy response government will again look to support the primary producers in our food and agri sector and manufacturing sectors who ultimately are the ones who will pay the largest price in terms of this new policy implementation. On balance, I think everyone who has been following the Brexit saga will feel that Ireland's position has been vindicated and supported by our EU colleagues and that the agreement that has been reached is probably as good as we could have hoped for given the political circumstances in the UK. The UK was before Brexit and is now still our biggest trading partner and hopefully it will continue to be as we learn to manage new ways of doing business and new ways of progressing our joint relationships. Thank you.
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