Freight Transport Association has called for MPs to vote in favour of the Withdrawal Agreement in order to delivering the frictionless trade that the logistics sector was promised and Britain trading post-Brexit.
“If the UK’s complex supply chain is to be protected,” said FTA deputy chief executive James Hookham, “it is vital that a deal is reached with the EU.” He stressed that a No Deal outcome to negotiations is not an option as “so much depends of the nation’s economic success depends on the maintenance of a successful, resilient supply chain.”
“Logistics and supply chain managers who would struggle to keep essential supplies flowing if the UK leaves the EU on 29 March 2019, and goods suddenly become subject to new customs declarations and duty payments and to conformity checks and inspections at the EU border,” said Hookham
The FTA believes that the ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement will allow for the frictionless trade and transport to carry on as normal after 29 March 2019, until at least the end of 2020 by which point a new free trade agreement with the EU would be negotiated.
“Frictionless trade always was and remains FTA’s Brexit goal and conversations at number 10 last night confirmed that this is an urgent priority for the government’s negotiating team. What is clear, and what I and other business leaders at the event hammered home is that No Deal is No Option if Britain is to continue trading efficiently with Europe and the rest of the world.
“While the next two weeks of political manoeuvring will undoubtedly be complicated,” said Hookham, FTA and other businesses “are stressing to the Prime Minister that a No Deal outcome would be bad for the logistics industry, and bad for business as a whole.”
