The UK and the EU-European Union are continuing negotiations on free trade agreements, but even if the deadline for concluding the agreement is approaching 10 days later, the gap between the two is not filled.
After Britain left the EU in January, the two sides have continued negotiations to conclude a free trade agreement by the end of the year, but there are disagreements over fishing rights in the UK's waters. It has not been resolved.
EU parliamentary groups = European parliamentary groups deciding whether to approve if agreed, urgently acknowledged last week that "to approve by the end of the year, it must be agreed by the 20th." I asked for it again.
However, EU chief negotiator Barnier acknowledged that "negotiations are extremely difficult," and Britain's Cabinet Office minister, Gove, said in a parliamentary committee that "the chances of an agreement are less than 50%." There is no information that negotiations have progressed even in the daytime, and it is unclear whether an agreement can be reached.
Regardless of whether or not there is an agreement, customs clearance procedures will be required for both trades from the beginning of the year, and it is expected that the distribution of daily necessities will be affected.
Furthermore, if the agreement cannot be concluded, new tariffs will be imposed, which will have a major impact on the economy and the lives of citizens, and concerns are growing as the deadline for concluding the agreement approaches 10 days later.
Logistics could be severely disrupted
At the end of the transition period, the United Kingdom will officially leave the EU's free-moving economic zone.
In response to this, from the beginning of the year, a new "customs clearance procedure" will begin to check the goods that come and go between the two sides, regardless of whether or not there is a free trade agreement.
When trading, it is necessary to declare the contents, number, and amount of luggage, and if the procedure is incomplete, you will not be able to cross the border.
The British government has shown the worst scenario that will occur at the beginning of the year, with up to half of the trucks heading to the EU via the Strait of Dover, the aorta of logistics, unprepared for documents and logistics is normal. It could drop to the 60% to 80% level.
In addition, there is a risk of a delay of up to two days in transportation due to a line of up to 7,000 trucks on the British side, and it is expected that logistics will be severely disrupted around the Strait of Dover.
Concerned about delays in transporting British fresh food
In the UK, there is growing concern that the transportation of fresh foods such as vegetables, which are indispensable for daily life, will be delayed from the beginning of the year.
The UK relies on imports of food from the EU, accounting for about 40% of the vegetables and fruits sold domestically.
The fruit and vegetable stores in western London are lined with tomatoes and oranges from Spain and Italy, many of which are shipped via the Strait of Dover.
In anticipation of the disruption of logistics at the beginning of the year, this store has secured a year's worth of long-lasting products such as bottled olive oil and tomatoes.
However, since I can't leave vegetables and fruits from now on, I have no choice but to take measures.
"There is no doubt that the transportation of vegetables and fruits will be delayed. The UK cannot do without food from the EU. We are proud to sell the best we have ever done," said owner Andreas Giorgio. Even though it has been done, if the quality deteriorates, it will be a big blow. "
Promote securing routes by Japanese logistics company
In some areas, there are urgent measures to avoid the stagnation of logistics from the beginning of the year.
UK-based Japanese logistics company "Yusen Logistics Co., Ltd." is in charge of transporting pharmaceutical products to hospitals in the EU.
The main transportation route to the EU was via the Strait of Dover, but we are working to secure another route to avoid getting caught in traffic.
So far, we have verified whether trucks can actually run on candidate routes and transport smoothly, and we will utilize routes such as entering the Netherlands by ferry from the port in the northern part of England on the opposite side of the Strait of Dover. ..
In addition, we plan to increase the number of people in charge of customs clearance procedures and establish a system that allows filing 24 hours a day.
Masahiro Kobayashi, director of NYK Logistics Co., Ltd., said, "Because we carry out life-threatening transportation of medicines and other products, the impact of customs clearance is very large. We are preparing to respond with the intention of not stopping logistics. ".
Confusion has already worsened in the Strait of Dover
The Strait of Dover, the logistics aorta that connects the European continent to the United Kingdom, is already in a state of turmoil before the end of the transition period.
The French town of Calais, which faces the strait, has a ferry terminal and an undersea tunnel entrance in the suburbs, and many trucks carry goods, but the traffic volume has been sharp since around October. On the highway leading to the tunnel, there are more than 10 kilometers of truck lines every day.
According to local governments, the average number of trucks crossing the Strait of Dover is usually 12,000 a day, but on the 16th of this month, it hit a record high of 18,000.
The reason for the surge in traffic is, so to speak, the last-minute demand for the UK to increase inventories before the end of the year when the transition period ends.
At a beer maker located in the town about 30 minutes by car from Curry, shipments to the United Kingdom accounted for 10% of sales, but orders began to increase in October, and now the shipment volume to the United Kingdom is 20 every year. % Is exceeded.
For this reason, we have increased the number of delivery trucks to the United Kingdom by 1.5 times to 120, but the roads are heavily congested and it often takes 8 hours to cross the Strait of Dover instead of 2 hours. That is.
It is not uncommon for it to take three days to get to and from the delivery destination in the UK in one day, and as a result, it costs 50,000 euros a week and 6.3 million yen in Japanese yen due to fuel costs and driver's allowance. It is said that there is a loss of.
Beer maker Andre Pecourt said, "I'm losing money, not profit. It's annoying that it takes 7 or 8 hours to deliver even though I have a lot of orders. Everything is confusing." Was there.