London, UK: The government has rejected new Road Haulage Association figures indicating that exports have fallen by 68% since the end of the transition period, insisting that freight flows are at normal levels on some days.
An RHA survey of its international members revealed that there had been a drop of as much as 68% in the volume of goods exports passing through UK ports. The association has called for an “urgent intervention”.
The RHA claims that, in many cases, lorries were travelling back empty from the UK to the EU. The RHA is demanding that Cabinet minister Michael Gove moves to rapidly increase the number of customs agents from 10,000 to 50,000 to help firms deal with new red tape.
In an article in the Observer, Burnett said he found it “deeply frustrating and annoying that ministers have chosen not to listen to the industry and experts’, who have consistently called for greater urgency and action from the government.
He claimed that Gove had not responded in writing ‘pretty much every time we have written over the last six months’.
“He (Gove) tends to get officials to start working on things. But the responses are a complete waste of time because they don’t listen to what the issues were that we raised in the first place.”
Richard Ballantyne, the chief executive of the British Ports Association, supported the RHA’s findings, saying they were “broadly in line” with his experience since the new year.
However, the Port of Dover claims that a month on since the end of the Brexit transition period, freight traffic volumes are at 90% of the level that is typical for the time of year.
And Whitehall sources rejected the RHA’s figure, insisting freight flows were up to 95% or even 100% of normal levels on some days in January.
“We don’t recognise these figures at all,” said a Cabinet Office spokesperson. “We know there are some specific issues and we are working with businesses to resolve them.”
A government spokesperson said: “Thanks to the hard work put in by hauliers and traders to get ready for the end of the Brexit transition period, there are no queues at the Short Straits, disruption at the border has so far been minimal and freight movements are now close to normal levels, despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
“As a responsible government, we made extensive preparations for a wide range of scenarios at the border, including the reasonable worst case. However, it appears increasingly unlikely that our reasonable worst case scenario will occur.”
