The new Brexit regulations are causing a big problem for British exporters to Europe and vice versa. Irish importers are also having a very difficult time as a huge percentage of the fresh produce imported from other European countries as well as the UK, traditionally entered the country via the English ‘land bridge’ which before 1st of January was the shortest and fasted way to get English, Dutch and Spanish produce into the country.
Orders were placed on day one with the produce arriving in Dublin on day 2, this is no longer the case.
“Custom clearance issues are a big concern and causing delays and back logs,” according to Justin Leonard from Dublin based Jackie Leonard & Sons.
Some English exporters are now sending the produce to mainland Europe and then put it on a ship from Dunkirk to Rosslare.
“Before we could order until 12 or 1pm and have the produce by 11am the following day, now we have to order before 11am and wait 2 days for it to arrive. This also has an influence on price as prices can fluctuate very quickly in this game. There are virtually no groupage loads coming into Ireland anymore, there is just too much red-tape at customs and it’s a very risky business if a truck full of perishable product gets stuck at the border. It seems that both the British and Irish customs are making it difficult for each other instead of working together to solve any issues.”
Ireland is back in a very strict lockdown after being open for the Christmas period, trade has slowed down as there is virtually no food service, but Justin is kept busy supplying hospitals and care homes as well as the takeaway trade. He also set up a veg box delivery business during the first lock down which he has kept running throughout and it is seeing another surge in sales.
“We will get through this uncertain period but as a businessman it is difficult, we don’t know when or if product will arrive and what condition it will get to us in. The snow in Spain last week caused further delays and we had days with no product arriving followed by big deliveries, it really is a case of feast or famine at the moment.
There are now more direct sailings from Spain, France and Belgium which some of the bigger companies are taking advantage so this may be a longer term solution, but it takes longer and can be affected by adverse weather.
For more information:
Justin Leonard
Jackie Leonard & Sons Limited
Tel: +353 1 873 3055
Mob: +353 86 867 4760
justin@jackieleonards.ie
www.jackieleonards.ie