Gay Byrne, President, EIFI
Head in the sand approach won’t make it go away!
While the far reaching business implications of the Covid-19 pandemic are now becoming apparent, they have somewhat overshadowed the proverbial elephant in the room … Brexit, so says Gay Byrne, President, Electrical Industries Federation of Ireland (EIFI).
While Byrne’s primary brief is the electrical sector, his comments cover all imported products and equipment across the full building engineering spectrum. There is a misconception that it will only affect manufacturers and manufacturers’ representatives. However, as he outlines here, the possible logistics disruption – in addition to extra cost implications – will impact the entire sector. This will include order placement, project timelines, etc, not to mention “just-in-time” practices and other short-ordering of critical supplies.
Britain officially left the European Union on 31 January of this year. Under the “Withdrawal Agreement,” a transition period came into effect on 1 February 2020 and will run until 31 December 2020. During the transition period the UK will remain in the EU customs union and single market. As a result, goods can currently move freely between the UK and the EU without any customs checks or formalities until the end of the transition period.
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