The Road Haulage Association (RHA) and Logistics UK have both welcomed the deal reached between the UK government and the European Union last week on the Northern Ireland Protocol, as industry representatives and politicians alike get to grips with the detail of the agreement.
The so-called Windsor Framework that has been agreed by the UK and EU negotiation teams aims to resolve the current myriad problems for the logistics sector surrounding the transport of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, caused by the UK’s exit from the European Union.
The new agreement is said to reduce the proportion of EU rules applied in Northern Ireland to less than three per cent.
Under the agreement, goods from Great Britain destined for Northern Ireland will travel through a new ‘green lane’, while a separate ‘red lane’ will be for goods subsequently destined for the EU.
It is expected that there will be significant reductions in checks and paperwork for green lane traffic, though these would not be eliminated altogether, the RHA said, particularly where smuggling is suspected. Red lane goods travelling to the EU, including Ireland, would still be subject to the usual checks. Read more from Transportoperator.co.uk >
