The second set of Brexit talks took place on Monday the 17th of July, however there Freight Transport Association says that the discussions need to take place with more speed in order to make up for the time that was lost because of the General Election. The Freight Transport Association, or FTA, are well known as the largest transport trade association.

The Head of European Policy at the FTA, Pauline Bastidon, believes that it is imperative to carry out the the discussions for Brexit in a timely manner in order to cover important topics regarding a wide range of different areas. In order to carry out negotiations from the first phase of discussion before moving on to discussing new issues such as the transport, trade and customs negotiations that will all need to be agreed on before the UK leaves the EU.

Not covering these issues in discussions during the limited time period could have a significant negative impact on the industries, and could lead to a great deal of uncertainty in the meantime. The FTA feel that there is a limited amount of time to agree on Brexit and everything that entails as well as having a transition period that would allow companies to adjust. Not covering everything could lead to delays at the borders and negative trade impacts for companies.

The Trade Association has also suggested that when discussing Ireland, those in charge of negotiations should be looking for new and unique ways to form and EU/UK border in order to avoid returning to the use of a hard border in order to lessen the impact on supply chains across Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The FTA work to represent their members and their concerns for the future, and have been expressing their views to the Government on a number of key concern within the Freight Transport industry. In order to convey the concerns of their members, the FTA are consistently consulting their members on topics such as Brexit. The FTA have also merged these concerns into a manifesto which is available to view online.