More permits to France and Germany
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SUBSTANTIAL increases in the number of permits issued to British operators for lorries going to France and West Germany next year were announced this week by the Minister for Transport.
Mr Fred Mulley said that his department had obtained the increases during negotiations with their French and German opposite numbers. The new situation will be as follows:— France
A 25 per cent increase to 29,000 in the general quota has been obtained and in addition the possible number which may be converted from the road/rail quota has been raised to 2,400. The cooperation quota (for use by British hauliers providing back-loads for French vehicles) has been increased by 1500 to 7,000. The system will be extended to ownaccount operators. The roadrail quota (for kangourou users) remains at 5,000 but permits will not be required by British operators sending trailers by rail to Spain and Portugal, providing the trailers go by rail as far as Hendaye or Perpignan.
West Germany
There has been a 15 per cent increase in the general quota to 5710 with the provision for a further 5 per cent from July 1 (making an annual total of 5960).
'The co-operation quota has been raised from 500 to 700 and British operators will continue to qualify for two permits for each back load they arrange for a German haulier.
A new quota has been introduced for short-distance transit journeys by British vehicles between Bremerhaven or Hamburg and the East German frontier. The quota has been set at 100 — which the DoE says should be more than sufficient — and it is hoped that a bilateral agreement with the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) will come into force during next year.
There is no change in the German road/rail and NATO quotas, which are expected to be more than sufficient for the traffic.
Italy
Negotiations with the Italian Ministry of Transport have so far proved inconclusive but the DoE hopes to make an announcement about the Italian quota for next year as soon as possible.
The DoE says that it is intending to offer somewhat larger allocations of permits next year to operators who have made good use of their general quota permits for France and West Germany. Individual letters of notification are to be sent out by the DoE's International Road Freight Office in Newcastle and it is stressed that no further applications will be considered at present. A substantial part of the extra permits will be offered to operators who do not at present receive a general quota allocation. Details of how to apply for these permits will be announced next year but operators already on the IRFO waiting list will be notified