International transportation organizations are warning world leaders that the “knee-jerk” reaction to the Omicron variant of COVID-19 may put the global supply chain at greater risk of collapse.
According to the group, which includes unions representing road, air, and sea transport, cross-border transport workers must be able to do their jobs and cross borders without overly restrictive travel rules to keep supply chains moving.
“This feels like groundhog day for our transport sectors,” said Guy Platten, secretary general of the International Chamber of Shipping. “There is a real and legitimate fear that unless coordinated action is taken by world leaders, we will see a return to the peak of the crew change crisis in 2020, where more than 400,000 seafarers were impacted by unnecessarily harsh travel restrictions. Our transport workers have worked tirelessly for the past two years throughout the pandemic to keep the global supply chain moving, and they are at breaking point. December is traditionally a busy time for seafarers returning home to their families, and governments owe them the chance to spend that time with their loved ones.”
The group includes the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the International Road Transport Union (IRU), and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF). Jointly, they have called for governments not to reimpose border restrictions that limit freedom of movement for international transport workers.
Within one week of the World Health Organization designating Omicron as a “variant of concern,” at least 56 countries have reimposed varying degrees of travel restrictions, the group said.
Instead, the group suggested, governments should guarantee the free and safe movement of transport workers; prioritize transport workers to receive vaccines; adopt lasting travel and health protocols for seafarers, drivers, and air crew; create globally harmonized, digital, mutually-recognized vaccine certificates and health credentials; and increase the global vaccine supply.
“After nearly two years of dealing with COVID-19, we should have progressed beyond these knee-jerk, uncoordinated, Pavlovian-like responses,” Willie Walsh, Director General, IATA, said. Public health officials tell us that we should expect variants to emerge. And by the time they are detected, experience shows that they are already present around the globe. Border restrictions that block air crew from doing their jobs will do nothing to prevent this while inflicting serious harm to still-recovering global supply chains and local economies.”
An emergency meeting between the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization about the recommendations and the impact of travel bans on the global supply chain is scheduled for Dec. 6.