Brexit: Parcel Motel and DPD temporarily suspended some of their operations

The parcel delivery companies, Parcel Motel and DPD suspended their Northern Ireland facilities because of Brexit.

Both the companies had said that they are suspending their services for the time being and reintroduction and reinstate process might be there in the future.

Parcel Motel was operating with a depot in County Antrim, which allowed online shoppers in the Republic of Ireland to avoid the extra costs of international shipping restrictions by using its ‘virtual address’ – allowing packages to be initially shipped to their Newtownabbey location before being distributed elsewhere.

The company has officially announced that from December 28, it will not be accepting deliveries to its Newtownabbey depot and the service will be suspended from December 31.

“As of 31 December, our virtual address services in the UK will be temporarily suspended, until such time as a final Brexit decision has been implemented and our services have been adapted to meet the new requirements.” Parcel Motel said in a statement.

They said that because of the suspension, all parcels crossing the new border between Britain and Ireland will be subject to customs formalities affecting the cost and transit time of your shipment.

However, DPD, said from December 23 onwards, they would be temporarily suspending its collection service from Great Britain into the Republic and Northern Ireland.

Through their company website, DPD said that “Brexit is due to come into effect on January 1st, 2021 – the transition period ends on December 31st, 2020. For all goods coming into or out of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland from Great Britain, declarations will be required,”

“As of Tuesday the 8th of December, the EU and UK agreed in principle on the process for implementing the NI Protocol as part of the Withdrawal Agreement for Brexit. After speaking with HMRC, we have confirmation that as part of the agreement, for the vast majority of goods travelling from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, no customs formalities will be required from January 1st 2021.”

“This means DPD Ireland will NOT ask for any customs details from you for your goods travelling from NI to GB, ROI or EU. Customs formalities will STILL be required for goods from GB into NI and we await further clarification from the UK and EU on those details.,.” DPD said.