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RHA to lobby Customs
Page 7
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• The Road Haulage Association is lobbying Customs to have smuggling laws changed following a successful appeal at a VAT tribunal.
At the case, haulier AJ Anderson appealed against a Customs decision that it should pay a restoration fee for a vehicle detained because the driver was found to have an excess amount (15kg) of tobacco on board, The appeal was upheld, and has been referred back to the Customs Commission for a complete review, says RHA head of international affairs Mike Freeman.
"This means that Customs has to rethink its seizure policy. It is strange that it released a driver who had admitted the crime, and then goes to a third party—the operator—to get its money back," says Freeman.
"We have always sold that drivers who smuggle, and companies who collude In that should be punished, but there seemed to be no natural Justice In this case, even though the company had put safeguards in place."