Comments on post-Brexit SMART FREIGHT system readiness from Logistics UK

Elizabeth de Jong, Director of Policy at Logistics UK, commented today in response to news that the SMART Freight system will not be fully operational by 1 January 2021: 
“News that the government’s much anticipated SMART Freight system is unlikely to be ready by the end of the year, with the BETA version only anticipated for launch in mid-December, is a crushing disappointment for the logistics sector, which will be charged with maintaining the flow of goods across the UK’s borders after the end of the Transition Period on 31 December 2020. Logistics UK, which has offered maximum support for the government during its development and testing of the system which will be vital to the continued movement of trade to and from the EU, expressed dismay at today’s revelation that the system will not be fully tested and stable until April 2021 – far too late for the end of the EU transition period at midnight on New Year’s Eve.