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FTA slams stowaway fine amendments
Page 6
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• The Freight Transport Association has written to the immigration Minister Beverley Hughes protesting at the government's refusal to listen to its arguments over stowaway fines.
The FrA is angered by a government amendment to the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum bill which will ensure that hauliers receive lower stowaway fines if they have been through CO2 or SiMitaf checks.
But the FTA says this is not enough. In his letter chief executive Richard Turner tells the minister: "This amendment does not deliver the benefits to industry and government that would flow from the adoption of Lord Attlee's amendment for such checks to provide a statutory defence.
'Our amendment would bring certainty to drivers and operators about how they need to protect themselves. At the moment they are presumed guilty once a stowaway is found and have to fight to prove their innocence."
• The Road Haulage Forum met last Week to discuss topics Including distance charging. The government says it Is on course to meet its 2006 deadline and expects development tenders in the new year. Any rebate designed to offset the charge will come through a reduction in fuel duty.