Customs conies under fire
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• Customs has been criticised for its heavy-handedness in dealing with lorry drivers in an independent report published last week.
In her first assessment of Customs' service, the department's adjudicator Elizabeth Filkin says that along with the Inland Revenue and the contri
butions agency, Customs had produced examples of "apparent incompetence, insensitivity and indifference".
The news comes as the United Road Transport Union and Customs are about to sign an agreement that could help protect drivers who fall victim to drug smuggling gangs. The increasing number of drug hauls found on drivers' trailers prompted Customs and URTU to set up a Memorandum of Understanding, to be signed on 31 October in Liverpool.
The agreement recognises that drivers do not always know what is in their loads and explains how Customs and hauliers can help in gathering evidence against smugglers.
Union officials say in the past drivers have been made scapegoats by the authorities who do not understand the limits of what a driver is told about his cargo.
In return, Customs is to advise operators on how they can tighten up security and operational procedures when collecting abroad.
URTU officer Mike Billingham says: "Drug barons understand how easy it is to conceal drugs on lorries."