Business First Summer 2017 Business First Magazine Summer 2017 | Page 22

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Time to work together to
address Brexit
I
by Pamela McCreedy, Chair, Chartered Accountants Ulster Society
t is a time of uncertainty and instability for
Northern Ireland. It’s not controversial to
suggest that this isn’t particularly helpful
in terms of growing our economy, creating
jobs or providing the best public services
possible for our people.
The long period of Brexit uncertainty we’re
currently going through is crippling. It’s
important that our business leaders and
political leaders work together to find a way
through instability.
Now that the General Election has taken
place we hope that the Executive and
Assembly can reconvene and we can address
the questions posed by Brexit.
As Chair of Chartered Accountants Ulster
Society it’s my responsibility to represent the
views of over 4,000 business leaders across
all sectors in Northern Ireland.
Brexit is a key concern
Brexit is a key concern for our members. Of
course, the business community will get on
with things and continue to do business, but
it is vital that our politicians, our public sector
decision makers and our private sector
leaders start working together to address the
issues.
We need a collaborative approach from
business and the public sector. It is the only
way we can hope to deliver a sustainable
local economy and the social, health and
education benefits that come with it.
We want an approach which displays
responsibility, accountability and maturity.
The detrimental effect of not having a
Stormont Executive to address Brexit
planning is hard to quantify.
But it stands to reason that we would be
better served by a group of elected
representatives working together to speak for
Northern Ireland.
Let’s take just one example.
Even in a best case scenario, Brexit means
the return of customs controls between the
UK and Ireland. No matter what your view of
the UK’s relationship with the EU, it’s
probably fair to say that the removal of
customer barriers through a Customs Union
has been one of the big successes of the EU
project.
At the time of writing the fallout from the
General Election is still settling, but it is
worth noting that up to now one of Theresa
May’s most clearly stated objectives is that
the UK will be leaving the Customs Union as a
result of Brexit.
20 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk
That means that in all likelihood we will be
back in the similar position to what we were
before 1993 – a trade border with the
Republic of Ireland.
Even if the best outcomes from the Brexit
negotiations can be achieved and there are no
customs tariffs on trade between the UK and
the EU ­ customs controls will still need to be
in place at the border.
This will be a problem for businesses, both
north and south of the border. Not only have
consumers largely forgotten about customs
duties, many businesses have as well.
Larger organisations will have retained
some customs expertise because they are
used to trading with countries outside the EU.
It is the smaller exporters and importers,
currently dealing exclusively with the EU,
who will have the steepest learning curve.
Of course, the future customs border won’t
necessarily resemble what was in place
before 1993 and the start of the Customs
Union.
Thankfully the security situation is not
what it was 25 years ago. There are also new
opportunities for electronic payment of
customs and verification of consignments
which just didn’t exist a quarter of a century
ago. That’s one solution which our
representatives could be pushing for.
There is plenty of precedent for designing
border controls which are efficient and not
intrusive to trade. This will be critical given
the high levels of food imports and exports
between the UK and Ireland. Any delay could
mean food consignments could be unfit for
consumption.
So what is the answer?
Co­operation. Working together. There will
need to be co­operation between business
and political leaders in Northern Ireland and
the UK. There will need to be co­operation
between the EU, HM Revenue & Customs and
the Irish Revenue. Local businesses, with the
help of politicians and customs bodies, will
need to work on their customs expertise.
Working together we can ensure that
Northern Irela