Is Brexit actually going to happen?

[killer b]

Sorry to report that if you don't log in for a while, your older notifications vanish into the ether, so unless our eponymous hero logs in soon (or you keep the joke running long after it's stopped being funny. A distinct possibility I know) then all your efforts will be for nought.

I'm glad you're all having such a good time though.

 

[Sprocket.]

grass

Snitches get stitches!

 

[danny la rouge]

Sorry to report that if you don't log in for a while, your older notifications vanish into the ether, so unless our eponymous hero logs in soon (or you keep the joke running long after it's stopped being funny. A distinct possibility I know) then all your efforts will be for nought.

I'm glad you're all having such a good time though.

Pickers was last seen in January. How long does it take for notifications to disappear?

 

[killer b]

Pickers was last seen in January. How long does it take for notifications to disappear?

Not sure - I took a couple of months off last year and the earlier notifications had gone by the time I logged back on.

 

[rekil]

Pickers was last seen in January. How long does it take for notifications to disappear?

I've been away for months at a time and there are always notifications (abuse mainly but they all count) when I come back. killer b is fooling the people.

 

[Sprocket.]

I'm sure I'm not the only one excited to see Big Pallet exposed at last. Guardian article --> The Unpalletable Truth book --> Pulitzer --> fillum.

My pallet interest has dissipated, robots are the future, robots I tell ee!

 

[Wilf]

So, does this mean we have to start talking about Brexit again?

 

[Sprocket.]

So, does this mean we have to start talking about Brexit again?

We could ask for a meaningful vote?

 

[Pickman's model]

We could ask for a meaningful vote?

previous meaningful votes on the matter are looking more and more insubstantial

 

[NoXion]

I think people might be getting euro pallets and heat treated pallets mixed up.

The way the term is usually used these days (I'm going on experience as a stock controller at a small wholesaler) a euro pallet is something different from what is being discussed here. What most people in the trade would call a euro is just a pallet that's 1200x800mm. You can send other sizes in the EU but its cheaper to send these with most of the couriers and road freight companies.

That bit doesn't change if we leave with no deal.

Anyone outside the EU has to send goods on heat treated pallets. As an EU member (and a country where none of the pests are actually native) we're exempt.

Its not as simple as them needing to be blue either. I'm pretty sure all the blue ones, as @Sprocket says, all belong to one company, they're sort of weirdly leased but I've never worked out how they get them back. I don't know if these pallets are heat treated. It could be they have some kind of stamp that the EU accepts but that seems pretty relaxed and unlike the EU. This is the only bit I'm not 100% on.

Obviously if we leave with no deal the EU will deal with us on WTO terms which means the same as everyone else so no exemption.

If its anything like sending to China and most of the far east, where there are similar requirements, you need to send a heat treated pallet with a certificate to prove it is heat treated. In effect it means they can't be reused and you need to have a pallet treated every time you send to the EU.

Or you can use plastic pallets. No certificate required.

Pickers may want to correct me on any of that.

So let me get this straight, pallets going from the UK into the EU would, in the event of no deal, have to be heat-treated from then on because WTO rules say trading partners can't be treated differently, despite the fact that the pests in question are not endemic to Britain, and untreated pallets have been passing to and fro over the Channel for decades without incident?

Is anyone else starting to think that the WTO should fuck off as well? Who are these pricks and what gives them the authority to impose their arbitrary bullshit on supposedly sovereign countries in the name of "fReE tRaDe"?

Also, this story really seems to be scraping the barrel in terms of reasons to panic.

 

[Wilf]

So let me get this straight, pallets going from the UK into the EU would, in the event of no deal, have to be heat-treated from then on because WTO rules say trading partners can't be treated differently, despite the fact that the pests in question are not endemic to Britain, and untreated pallets have been passing to and fro over the Channel for decades without incident?

Is anyone else starting to think that the WTO should fuck off as well? Who are these pricks and what gives them the authority to impose their arbitrary bullshit on supposedly sovereign countries in the name of "fReE tRaDe"?

Also, this story really seems to be scraping the barrel in terms of reasons to panic.

'First they came for our pallets and I did nothing...'

 

[billy_bob]

This issue is freight with difficulties. It's not the most palatable topic for discussion.

 

[Sprocket.]

Let’s not get haulier than thou!

 

[billy_bob]

Let’s not get haulier than thou!

No, we should have no truck with that.

 

[Dandred]

Whoops! No-deal Brexit panic after ministers realize the UK doesn't have the right pallets for exporting to the EU

 

[brogdale]

Let’s not get haulier than thou!

Well articulated Sprocket.

 

[SpineyNorman]

in as much as global warming is off-topic for this thread, that's outrageous.

It's not that bad. They can be reused as pallets but once it's been sent somewhere the paper trail is broken so they'd have to be retreated before they could be used for that purpose again.

 

[SpineyNorman]

So let me get this straight, pallets going from the UK into the EU would, in the event of no deal, have to be heat-treated from then on because WTO rules say trading partners can't be treated differently, despite the fact that the pests in question are not endemic to Britain, and untreated pallets have been passing to and fro over the Channel for decades without incident?

Is anyone else starting to think that the WTO should fuck off as well? Who are these pricks and what gives them the authority to impose their arbitrary bullshit on supposedly sovereign countries in the name of "fReE tRaDe"?

Also, this story really seems to be scraping the barrel in terms of reasons to panic.

Yeah it's fucking nuts and I don't think it's actually going to be as bad as they're making out. I send and receive a decent amount to and from the EU and I'll be fine with plastics and the odd one off smaller heat treated pallet.

 

[andysays]

We could ask for a meaningful vote?

We should have a meaningful vote on whether to change the thread title to "Is Pickers actually going to happen?"

 

[Ranbay]

Yeah it's fucking nuts and I don't think it's actually going to be as bad as they're making out. I send and receive a decent amount to and from the EU and I'll be fine with plastics and the odd one off smaller heat treated pallet.

So the story just doesn't stack up then?

 

[teuchter]

So let me get this straight, pallets going from the UK into the EU would, in the event of no deal, have to be heat-treated from then on because WTO rules say trading partners can't be treated differently, despite the fact that the pests in question are not endemic to Britain, and untreated pallets have been passing to and fro over the Channel for decades without incident?

Is anyone else starting to think that the WTO should fuck off as well? Who are these pricks and what gives them the authority to impose their arbitrary bullshit on supposedly sovereign countries in the name of "fReE tRaDe"?

Also, this story really seems to be scraping the barrel in terms of reasons to panic.

Presumably the logic is that as we are currently part of the EU, pallets that arrive here from other parts of the world are subject to EU rules. Therefore any pallets in the UK should already meet requirements and don't need further treatment. However, once we are no longer in the EU, the EU no longer has any say on what treatment pallets arriving in the UK have, and therefore why should they accept stuff from us without checks.

 

[SpackleFrog]

So let me get this straight, pallets going from the UK into the EU would, in the event of no deal, have to be heat-treated from then on because WTO rules say trading partners can't be treated differently, despite the fact that the pests in question are not endemic to Britain, and untreated pallets have been passing to and fro over the Channel for decades without incident?

Is anyone else starting to think that the WTO should fuck off as well? Who are these pricks and what gives them the authority to impose their arbitrary bullshit on supposedly sovereign countries in the name of "fReE tRaDe"?

Also, this story really seems to be scraping the barrel in terms of reasons to panic.

Referendum NOW - Take Back Control (from the WTO)!

 

[billy_bob]

Referendum NOW - Take Back Control (from the WTO)!

Then after that, we need to fuck off this 'sea' bollocks, who does it think it is, washing up on our beaches?

#Britianoutofeverything

 

[SpineyNorman]

Presumably the logic is that as we are currently part of the EU, pallets that arrive here from other parts of the world are subject to EU rules. Therefore any pallets in the UK should already meet requirements and don't need further treatment. However, once we are no longer in the EU, the EU no longer has any say on what treatment pallets arriving in the UK have, and therefore why should they accept stuff from us without checks.

That would be a good explanation if any of it bore even a vague resemblance to reality. It doesn't though. Even under WTO rules the UK would continue to insist on heat treated pallets from those countries. Are you seriously arguing that it wouldn't? The truth is that if there's any risk being taken its by the UK. Most of the EU is at least part of a landmass where those pests can be found. The UK isn't.

 

[teuchter]

That would be a good explanation if any of it bore even a vague resemblance to reality. It doesn't though. Even under WTO rules the UK would continue to insist on heat treated pallets from those countries. Are you seriously arguing that it wouldn't? The truth is that if there's any risk being taken its by the UK. Most of the EU is at least part of a landmass where those pests can be found. The UK isn't.

Essentially, once we're a 'third country' why should we expect the EU to offer us special treatment - are you are saying that they should just trust us because it's in our own interests to continue a similar level of controls? Do they offer a similar exemption for other 'third countries' where the relevant pests are not endemic?

 

[NoXion]

Referendum NOW - Take Back Control (from the WTO)!

Then after that, we need to fuck off this 'sea' bollocks, who does it think it is, washing up on our beaches?

#Britianoutofeverything

I guess it's easier to just take the piss, rather than to question the role that organisations like the WTO play on the world stage.

 

[Poi E]

Well articulated Sprocket.

 

[SpackleFrog]

I guess it's easier to just take the piss, rather than to question the role that organisations like the WTO play on the world stage.

I'm not taking the piss, I completely agreed with your point. We should leave the WTO. Fuck the WTO.

I don't want a referendum on it, that is taking the piss a bit. But if we did have one I'd vote to leave.

 

[gentlegreen]

You favour a tribal, barter-based economy ?
Lots of hungry people though - unless we dig up every square yard of ground.

 

[NoXion]

You favour a tribal, barter-based economy ?
Lots of hungry people though - unless we dig up every square yard of ground.

And there it is - it's either the WTO or going back to barter. There Is No Alternative.