(IL MESSAGGERO) – MILAN, 4 FEB – The Italian Chamber of Commerce in the United Kingdom has opened a Brexit desk "to give Italian companies a point of reference in the United Kingdom, based in London, in the face of the new scenario created by that country's exit from the European Union". This was announced by Alessandro Belluzzo, President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain, at the conference "Brexit done. The future of Italy-UK trade relations" held at Assolombarda, stressing that for Italian companies "there are many opportunities behind this new situation, but it must be made clear that it is a new relationship for which we must be ready". "There are positive signals, but there is a lot to do. We are in a new phase. If the negotiations have not reached a positive conclusion by 31 December, it will be a 'no deal'. We must be prepared. That is why we need to focus on the procedures relating to people, companies and goods," Belluzzo explained. Concerns were also raised by Ernesto Sicilia, CEO of Trenitalia UK, which recently secured the management of railway lines in the United Kingdom. "In the event of a no deal," he explained, "we will have to deal with a supply-chain issue that had not been anticipated." The message from Maurizio Bragagni, CEO of Tratos – the multinational that produces high-tech cables in Italy and, since 1981, also in the United Kingdom – was more reassuring. "We will not have supply-chain problems: we diversified our supply channels in good time and we are ready. We simply need to understand what the tariffs will be and what customs bureaucracy we will be subject to. In any case, as long as the EU and the UK remain aligned with international standards, it will always be possible to manufacture a product and trade it," the entrepreneur maintained, expressing the hope that "in its negotiations with other states, and above all with the USA, the United Kingdom will guarantee those standards, given that the USA uses them as a genuine trade barrier". (Il Messaggero). NI 04-FEB-20 17:37
