By Elishya Perera
LONDON (CU)_Exports from Britain to the Republic of Ireland dropped nearly €1bn (£856m) in January, following the end of the Brexit transition period. According to Ireland’s Central Statistics Office, this amounts to 65 per cent decline to €497m in January compared with the same month last year.
The Brexit transition period expired on New Year’s Eve last year, which meant that goods entering Ireland from Britain faced a range of new customs and regulatory controls starting 1 January.
Several factors contributed to this large reduction in imports earlier this year. “These included the challenges of complying with customs requirements,” CSO senior statistician Orla McCarthy said. “Other factors identified by traders were stockpiling of goods in Q4 2020 in preparation for Brexit, substitution with goods from other countries, and a reduction in trade volumes due to the impact of COVID-19 related restrictions throughout January.”
According to CSO’s data, the largest decline was in exports of food and live animals, with a 75 per cent drop to €62 million. This was followed by a 71 per cent decrease in mineral fuel exports to €57 million.
Nevertheless, trade between Ireland and Northern Ireland saw a significant increase, with exports from Northern Ireland increasing 10 per cent from €161m (£137m) to €177m (£151m), while imports to the country rose 17 per cent from €170m (£145) to €199m (£170m).
Although the United Kingdom left the European Union in January 2020, trade rules remained the same as when the UK was an EU member state, until the end of the transition period on 31 December. Thereafter, trade with Great Britain was treated as non-EU trade which brought considerable red tape that has caused delays at ports. This, along with other factors, led to the significant drop in exports from Britain to Ireland since the beginning of 2021.
