French renege on belly-tank deal
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by Kathy Watson • l;K officials are urging international hauliers to re-route, avoiding France, following the French department of transport's decision to continue its ban on belly tanks. The use of belly tanks is legal under European Union law. The French decision was contained in a letter to the UK Department of Transport this week.
"We thought we had their agreement on a certification scheme for tanks of less than 1,000 litres," says Roger Smith, who is leading the Department of Transport's negotiating team. "But in the letter they throw up additional problems and they still want to apply the ADR rules (on the carriage of hazardous goods)." Smith says the DOT will continue to treat the matter as an issue between Britain and France and will not involve the European Commission at this stage. Most hauliers will be unable to follow DOT advice.
Tony Orchard of GB Express says avoiding France is not often an option as the company has depots in Cherbourg and Bordeaux and like many hauliers takes part-loads to France en route.