22 WESTERN PALLET
TIMCON AGM: Brexit - Yes, No or Never-Ending Story?
Irish Government backs forest-based industry success
Irish government minster Mary Mitchell O’Connor told members of the wooden pallet and packaging sector that Ireland’s successful forest based sectors can expect continued growth in the future.
Speaking at the agm of the Timber Packaging & Pallet Confederation (TIMCON), held in Dublin at the beginning of September, O’Connor, Minister of State for Further Education, said wooden pallets and packaging are “absolutely essential” to effective trade and that this sector is benefiting from well-planned planting programs and robust economic growth forecasts.
“We have seen sustained investment in the timber sector in recent years, which has become a highly competitive and automated industry,” she said. “It’s had one of the largest r&d investments compared to the size of the industry so it has not only survived but also flourished during a recession. Plantings in 1980s and 1990s have set the foundations for future growth. This will lead to the doubling of the forest harvest over the next five years.”
Mitchell O-Connor added that the Irish government is targeting 17% land coverage by forests across Ireland – up from the current 7 per cent – by 2050. It is supporting private forest plantings to help it achieve this goal.
Meanwhile, she said, the Irish government will be giving its trading relationship with the UK particular attention as Brexit negotiations play out over the coming months. Ireland’s priorities are to protect the peace process, eschewing economic borders between the two countries and retaining a common travel area.
“It’s not an either/or choice for Ireland,” she said. “We want our future relationship with the UK to be as close and as positive as possible. The UK matters to us, in every sense. Brexit is a critical matter in our long-term economic strategy.”
At the meeting, TIMCON members said Brexit has exacerbated the ongoing challenge of high timber prices, while availability issues continued to cause concern. Representatives of the sawmilling sector said contrary to the usual seasonal fall in timber prices they are expecting further prices rises in wood during quarter 4.
Brexit: Yes, No or Never-Ending Story?
The subject of Brexit was addressed by Daniel Guéguen, Head of Strategy and Lobbying at Brussels-based training and consultancy firm PACT European Affairs In his presentation to the agm entitled “Brexit: a yes, a no, or a never-ending story?”, he said he believed Brexit was unlikely to go ahead.
Guéguen said there had been a worrying lack of progress in moving Brexit forward since Article 50 had been triggered, with little clarity on key issues such as the exit bill, status of European and UK ex-pat residents, the border with Northern Ireland and the location of the UK/France border for immigration control purposes.
There are 1,685 European directives and 12,410 technical regulations that currently govern the UK, said Guéguen. “All of these are still in force in the UK the day after Brexit and the UK will still be governed by EU law,” he said. The UK would then be able to modify its own legislation, he said, a process that would take “decades”.
The most important consideration, he said, was the issue of trade. “As the UK and the EU are both members of the WTO they will have to negotiate official WTO agreements in accordance with article 24 of the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade), before the entry into force of the trade part of any future EU/UK agreement,” he said. A WTO panel would also be needed to analyze the implications of the departure of a member state from the customs union; a process that would take up to nine months to complete.
An approximate 100 bilateral and multilateral trade agreements between the EU and other countries and further agricultural agreements with the Commonwealth – such as those favoring New Zealand lamb or sugar from Mauritius – would also need renegotiating.