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Permits action
Page 7
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THE DEPARTMENT of Transport has responded to intense lobbying by the Road Haulage Association's international group and is now "looking closely at ways of strengthening the powers of waterguard officers in co-operation with Customs and Excise".
Customs officers have no power to stop Continental hauliers without necessary permits from entering Britain. Although DTp officers pick up some permit offences at routine checks, Junior Transport Minister, Michael Spicer says: "We are not satisfied with these enforcement powers."
In a letter to Tory MP Tim Yeo, he went on: "We would much rather not have a permit system at all. We are fighting hard for complete liberalisation of all road haulage."
Restrictive permit quotas divert traffic away from our hauliers to those of other countries, he said, and added that the DTp is pressing for equal road and fuel taxes within the EEC. This would help to free British hauliers from unfair competitive disadvantages, Mr Spencer says.
The DTp has known about the anomaly whereby Customs officers in Britain are the only ones in Europe without the power to turn back lorries because they are breaking permit rules for several years but took no action so long as there was little outcry on the subject.
The RHA's international group has been pressing for action for more than a year now. It believes the lack of action against foreign hauliers is costing traffic and jobs.
The notion of the DTp pressing for harmonisation of taxes to help British hauliers is greeted with wry humour by the RHA.
The British Government levies higher vehicle excise duty on heavy lorries and tax on dery than any other EEC state.