Swiss firm takes over carnet checks
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• International hauliers are having to travel further to get T1R carnets checked, following the appointment of a Swiss security firm to verify all goods movements in a bid to reduce fraud.
The International Road Transport Union has appointed Societe Generale Surveillance (SOS) to verify all carnet movements. Hauliers have to go to the nearest SOS office after every delivery or collection and in many areas that means driving for miles to get documents stamped.
Any haulier not complying with the new regulations faces expulsion of the system if he cannot get his movements verified.
One firm experiencing difficulties is Crewe-based clothing manufacturer Fairway Corporation. It moves goods in and out of Hungary and has been left without a local SGS office near its factory in Eger. Director David Barley says this is a problem the firm does not need: "Operating in the just-intime environment is problematic enough—anything delaying movements is an extra headache," he says.
II UK SGS offices are in Dover, Ramsgate, and Lenham in Kent, and in Manchester.