Approval for Fuel Marking System
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THE Customs and Excise Depart' ment last week gave the "thumbs up' to the marking system introduced early last year to distinguish gas oil
from diesel road fuel.
The systern, together with the mobile testing units which have powers to sample and test the fuel supplies of toad vehicles, has made it possible to keep art extremely effective check on the misuse of low-duty oil.
So much so, the annual report of the department adds, that the mutuallydisliked comprehensive record system imposed on commercial vehicle users has been scrapped.
The bulk of the year under review (1961-62) fell outside the new arrangement, however, and prosecutions relating to hydrocarbon oils led to the conviction of 28 people and the imposition of over £2,000 in fines. This included 10 convictions and £332 in fines for using, or selling for use, in vehicles heavy hydrocarbon oils supplied duty-free, or at reduced rates, for other purposes.
Revenue from the hydrocarbon oil duties increased by just over £100 million, to £510-3 million, in 1961-62. Half of this spectacular increase came from the new duties on heavy oils imposed in the 1961 Budget, and the rest was divided between the "surcharge' introduced the following July and the continued increase in consumption of motor spirit and derv.
Deliveries of diesel road fuel in 1961-62 increased by about 10 per cent-about the same rate of increase as in the previous year. The growth in consumption of motor spirit was. however, smaller at 3 per cent (compared with 7 per cent in 1960-61).
The report also refers to the experimental abolition of carnets from August, 1961--still apparently regarded as experimental—and to efforts continuously being made to simplify import and export documents and speed the flow of goods into and out of the country.