Irish Exporters Association brings Supply Chain Series to the North-East: Revenue briefs exporters in the border region on customs and Brexit

The initiative, in its second year, focuses on import and export challenges for manufacturers and service providers; offers solutions and practical support from logistics, trade finance experts and exporting companies; provides information around third country shipping and associated documentation as well as maximising opportunities with our air, road, sea and rail services. Attendees were briefed on the opportunities and challenges for the region from a Revenue perspective and preparedness for Brexit by Celine O’Neill, Assistant Principal Officer, Customs Policy Branch, Revenue.

Other industry speakers included local exporter Turmec Teoranta, Drogheda Port Company, Dundalk Chamber of Commerce, Rhenus Logistics Ireland and Ulster Bank who provided an insight into multimodal regional issues, currency trajectories and challenges facing competitiveness locally and internationally. A lively panel discussion led by Patrick Daly, IEA Supply Chain Series Chair & Managing Director of Alba Consulting Group took place on common supply chain challenges and solutions to doing business on and off the Island of Ireland relevant to the North-East region. Breakout sessions in the areas of ‘Skills and Regulatory Update – A focus on Brexit’ and ‘Multimodal’ were welcomed and well attended.

Simon McKeever, Chief Executive, Irish Exporters Association commented: “The North-East is an extremely important export location with many manufacturing, engineering, life sciences, business services, ICT and food agri businesses exporting and importing on and off the island. It has the distinct advantage of being nationally connected with rail and road networks and internationally connected with access to Dublin Port and Dublin Airport, proximity to Northern Ireland and the Midlands.. All Irish businesses need to be protected in these uncertain times and local businesses like Turmec Teoranta with a big international footprint need to be supported so that they can continue to grow and develop, continue to create jobs and continue to competing internationally, The Supply Chain Series gives this community a platform to connect locally and discuss regional and national issues will which in turn feeds into our service offering to our members such as IEA policy, training courses on customs, consultancy and AEO as well as member representation.”

Ulster Bank’s head of SME Banking, East, Olaf Fitzsimmons said: “We’re delighted to support this event in Dundalk as we know from talking to our customers in the North East that managing their supply chain is an important part of growing their business, especially for those that cross borders and time zones. Ulster Bank provides meaningful help for these businesses through managing foreign exchange risk, supplier payment methods or support to fund business expansion to capitalise on market developments. Ulster Bank has a strong partnership with the Irish Exporters Association and the Supply Chain series is a great opportunity to meet further with businesses, to hear more about how we can help them fulfil their ambitions.”

Glenn Carr, General Manager Freight Rail/Road & Rosslare Europort Iarnród Éireann commented: “The Irish Exporters Association Supply Chain programme offers the opportunity for us to showcase our Rail Freight, Navigator Road Agency and Rosslare Europort businesses. We are delighted to be again a partner of Supply Chain Ireland in sponsoring the exciting and informative range of events and seminars organised for 2018.”

Declan Sinnott, Managing Director, Rhenus Logistics Ireland stated: “The Irish Exporters Association Supply Chain programme of events provides a real platform to share and exchange supply chain innovations and developments across a number of industries. Rhenus Logistics is proud to sponsor the Irish Exporters Association and its partners again this year.”

Jarlath Sweeney, Group Editor/Director, Fleet Transport said: “After a successful past year of being involved with the Irish Exporters Association Supply Chain events, Fleet Publications, through its titles Fleet Transport & Handling Network is engaged in another busy series of events held around the country during 2018. Again, we will feature reports on the various topics presented, addressed and discussed in our magazine titles, websites and through its social media platforms. More details can be found on www.fleet.ie and www.handling-network.com.”

Expert Advisory Panellists

• Celine O’Neill, Assistant Principal Officer – Customs Policy Branch, Revenue
• Declan Sinnott, Managing Director, Rhenus Logistics Ireland
• Simon Barry, Chief Economist Republic of Ireland, Ulster Bank

Industry Speakers

• Brian Thornton, Managing Director, Turmec Teoranta
• Pat McCormick, Incoming President, Dundalk Chamber of Commerce
• Martin Donnelly, Harbour Master & Chief of Operations, Drogheda Port Company

The IEA Supply Chain Series 2018 will consist of:

• 4 IEA Supply Chain Seminars: 4 large seminars will take place in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Dundalk with case studies from local exporters, experts in industry standards, regulatory and compliance, as well as best practice advice across the supply chain by experts. Each seminar will incorporate critical breakout sessions on trade issues.
• 4 IEA Exporters Roundtables: Chaired by Patrick Daly, this is an invitation only meeting for manufacturers to address on some of the larger issues coming out of the seminars and webinars, as well as discussing local issues. They will include but are not limited to, finance, logistics, transport, energy, and sectors food & drink, life sciences, ICT, energy and engineering – all of which will be discussed in the context of the Supply Chain and used to feed into IEA Policy, training, consultancy services and member representation.
• 4 IEA Multimodal Working Groups (formerly known as IEA Railfreight Group): Chaired by Howard Knott, these meetings will provide a platform to discuss the importance of multimodal partnering in the supply chain and associated opportunities and challenges.
• 12 Supply Chain Webinars: These interactive online seminars will look at specific supply chain topics and include guest speakers on: AEO, Trade Finance, Revenue Recognition, Invoice Discounting, Cashflow/Working Capital, Customs Awareness, Union’s Customs Code, Revenue, GDPR, Procurement, Digital Supply Chain & Ireland as a location, Supply Chain Strategy feeding into Business Strategy, Sustainability, Global Supply Chains, Warehousing and Brexit updates.