Brexit decision was this good or bad for Northern Devon? – North Devon Gazette

Published:7:00 AM December 29, 2021

Tim Jones, chairman of North Devon Biosphere Foundation:

Evidence is beginning to emerge on the true effect of the Brexit decision on a wide range of businesses throughout Northern Devon.

In 2020, before we completed the exit, the levels of trade averaged 42 per cent of our regional exports and 52 per cent of our regional imports.

There were no particular countries within the EU who were our strongest trading partners.

In fact, looking at individual countries, it was the USA who were our largest trading partner, accounting for just over 20 per cent of our exports and 13 per cent of our imports.

Since then, the situation has significantly reversed.

UK trade with the EU fell sharply between the end of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021.

On average, our exports fell by around 18 per cent and our imports fell by around 25 per cent.

It was always expected that there would be a major correction.

Under the terms of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, most issues were resolved except for that between the European Union and Northern Ireland where the provisions of a special protocol apply.

There has recently been much publicity regarding this and our EU negotiator - Lord Frost - is in some very testing dialogue with officials.

Whilethere are no tariffs on goods traded between the EU and the UK, goods must meet the relevant 'rules of origin', which determine the 'economic nationality'of goods.

Goods are also subject to Customs formalities and must meet all EU standards and are subject to regular regulatory checks.

Our latest research indicates that the paperwork bureaucracy and red tape has dramatically affected trade volumes.

It is estimated that local firms are having to commit one or two of their highly skilled staff to fire fight.

It would seem that many EU businesses cannot be bothered with the whole issue of validating 'proof of origin'.

The UK therefore has a much lower priority.

If you look further into the reasons for these difficulties, then quite quickly it emerges that much of the red tape originates from the UK.

We are supposed to have specialist departments dealing with UK marking and certification, however, the complexity which is largely caused in Whitehall involving such things as Customs Codes and alignment of different digital systems, is slowly squeezing the life out of these previously valuable markets and reducing the motivation for businesses to engage.

These problems also spill over into the recruitment of EU labour.

It is estimated that the South West has lost around 10,000 EU workers.

The Government have recognised the difficulties this is causing, particularly in agriculture and healthcare.

They are rapidly increasing the flexibility of this process, however, the reality is that in order to bring labour into our region from the EU it is still necessary to navigate the 50-page manual for online visa processing.

One of the reasons we left the EU was because of the perception that European bureaucrats imposed huge amounts of red tape.

It has always been known that these regulations have been 'gold plated'by Whitehall.

Now the full facts are emerging as to the extent of this disruption.

It is a simple fact that Northern Devon has had and should continue to have strong trading relationships with our nearest neighbours.

This is a market rich in opportunities and it is currently being stifled for the wrong reasons.

There is growing evidence that we are replacing some of our lost export trade with countries around the world outside the EU.

This is, however, a slow process.There is, for example, no evidence of a trade agreement with the USA.Other countries have achieved agreements but, in many cases, they have taken years to complete.

We should therefore now develop a strong, evidenced based, lobbying initiative with Government.

Our MPs and public sector bodies will want to support this work, as it will define the future growth for Northern Devon.

The urgency of developing a strong advocacy document is extreme.

This should therefore be a high priority for the first few weeks of the New Year.

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Brexit decision was this good or bad for Northern Devon? - North Devon Gazette