Freeports are not a silver bullet: Tudor

摘要

Government rhetoric on proposals to introduce free-ports -10 designated areas within the country with special economic status - post-Brexit should be taken with a pinch of salt, according to a supply chain expert. Claims by the Government that freeports would transform towns and cities across the UK, bring enterprise back to country, and create gateways to future prosperity and thousands of jobs were unfounded, said Adam Johnson, director of Leeds-based Tudor International Freight. "The first point to make is, at the risk of stating the obvious, introducing 10 freeports is unlikely to go anywhere near mitigating the economic downsides of a no-deal Brexit, or even the UK leaving the EU Customs Union," said Johnson. "These results could include bankruptcies and job losses. "Another reason for slight scepticism among food manufacturing companies is that the Government announced in March there would be no tariffs on 87% of our imports for up to a year, if - as seems increasingly likely -we leave the EU without a deal. "Freeports would, therefore, apparently bring few additional benefits to UK businesses, at least initially, other than reduced form-filling and perhaps a slightly lighter regulatory regime than would apply elsewhere in the country."