For the past 30 years, Shannon-based company River International Forwarding has helped international companies to transport goods in and out of Ireland.
This task has become much more complicated in recent weeks, according to company owner Niall Gavin, as a result of the Department of Agriculture’s decision to route a large amount of its agricultural inspections from Shannon Airport to Dublin Airport.
Established in 1992, River International Forwarding operates in Shannon and Dublin Airports, as well as in Dublin Port and Rosslare Port. Managing customs and agricultural documentation for international clients is a key part of its business. This portion of the market has increased dramatically since Brexit, as UK products are now liable for the same border controls as other non-EU members.
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As well as creating difficulties in his own business, Mr Gavin believes that the change in policy by the Department of Agriculture is starting to be felt by customers in the midwest area. He says that the Department of Agriculture is treating some of the biggest employers in the region with contempt.
“Some customers have been in contact with me about this, others haven’t realised what the situation is yet. But if something is sitting up in Dublin for a few days, and their costs start to go up, they will pay attention to it then,” he said. “There is a major concern around delays for these substances as they are all perishable. Many of these are being transported with dry ice or in cryo-containers which can keep them viable for a certain amount of time. But if there are big delays going up and down to Dublin, this will become an issue.
“I know of one large pharmaceutical company which imports perishable materials via Shannon Airport down to Cork. They have a GPS tracker on each of these containers. They are going to see their products going back and forth across the country.
“They are a major multinational company, paying corporation tax in Ireland and employing a lot of people. What are they going to think when they see this going on? These are important companies being treated with complete contempt,” he says.
“I had a small shipment recently from a company in the UK, for example, who were sending it to the Marine Institute in Galway. It was a batch of cells for use in research.
“So this package was sent via Shannon, as would have been normal for them in the past. So I started processing the paperwork for this shipment. I contacted the Department of Agriculture [in Shannon], notified them that this has arrived and ask them to check it. The guys in Shannon say they can’t handle it, they’ve been informed that this has to go to Dublin.
“So this is a box that is here in Shannon, it’s destined for Galway, but now it has to go back up to Dublin, all the paperwork has to be redone, and then it has to come back across to Galway again.
“This was a small box, maybe a kilo in weight. You would regularly have large pallets, of maybe 500 kilos, which will now need to be transported back and forth up to Dublin. That’s not a cheap thing to do,” he says.
“There is an excellent facility in Shannon Airport which, besides inspecting live horses which are flown directly into Shannon, there is not very much for them to do at the moment. All the work is now being done in Dublin.”
