Deal would allow UK to be used as friction-free ‘land bridge’ for goods going to Dublin from EU

Ireland is hoping to seal a special Brexit side deal in Brussels allowing it to continue using the UK as a “land bridge” for goods in transit to Dublin without border checks, a senior Irish tax official has revealed.

Under the special deal being discussed, goods from the continent would undergo checks in Calais. The freight containers would then be sealed and given free passage to Dublin via Dover and Holyhead.



“There are negotiations going on at EU level where the regulatory check would have been done in France and we are hopeful that [those goods] will be sealed and can travel through the UK and come to Ireland then,” said Carol-Ann O’Keeffe, an assistant principal of corporate affairs and customs division at Revenue, Ireland’s equivalent of HMRC.

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Speaking at a British and Irish Chambers of Commerce conference in Dublin, she also revealed that the Irish government was pressing ahead with detailed plans for customs and health checks in Irish ports and airports in the event of no deal.

Food and public health checks had to be carried out at the border, she said. “They are not allowed outside the border.”

The conference heard that the much-vaunted “trusted trader” status in the Chequers plan that would supposedly allow goods to travel friction-free across borders, particularly the Irish border, was of “no benefit” to agrifood traders as they would be subject to “mandatory checks”.

O’Keeffe said she had no knowledge of what the UK was planning to implement on its side of the border. “That’s their own call, they are not going to be bound by EU law,” she said.

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Although she said she could not speak about north-south plans as this was part of the political negotiations, she warned that the “trusted trader” certificate might not suit everyone in the supply chain because it was costly and had to be kept up to date. It would also take nine months to obtain, the conference heard.

O’Keeffe also said that customs declaration forms were long and detailed and not just a box-ticking exercise declaring goods and their origin and destination.

“It’s all electronic. We aren’t talking papers and stamps, but it is a 54-box declaration … If you want to clear your goods speedily, we will be saying you must submit it and you must submit it in advance,” she said.

Dublin will face the same burden of health checks as Calais for plants, food and animal feed.