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Visiting rights
Page 36
Page 37
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More than a decade after cabotage permits were first issued, confusion still exists over the meaning of "temporary". Adam Hill reports.
Cabotage, the process by which hauliers carry out work within foreign countries on a temporary basis, is legal. But claiming to work temporarily in a country when you are in fact based there is not To ram home this point, the Transport Tribunal recently rejected an appeal by haulier Anthony Everett, director of S&A UK, which had had its licence revoked (CM 8 June). The Tribunal agreed with the Eastern Traffic Commissioner's earlier decision that since the Dutch-registered company had vehicles "normally" based in the UK, it was breaking cabotage rules (CM 16 February).
Risk of impoundment
And in December last year. Vosa warned Dutch haulier Rynart Trading that its vehicles would be impounded if it continued to breach eabotage rules by carrying out weekly cabotage operations from UK ports (CM 9 February 2006).
If the vehicles of a company engaged in cabotage never leave that foreign country they are clearly breaking EU law. But the regulations cause widespread confusion among hauliers because "temporary" is not defined.
Vosa faces this head on by making its own requirement "that a foreign-registered vehicle must exit the country at least once a month" — although it points out that this alone is not enough.Cabotage, it says, can't be"permanent, frequent, or on a regular or continuous basis". Instead it must he carried out on a "casual and circumstantial basis at considerable and infrequent intervals".
But that still leaves a lot of room for manoeuvre. In 2003 the EC suggested that four factors must be considered: • Duration — the weeks or months that the haulier's trucks are at work in a foreign state; • Frequency — the number of operations carried out per month or year); • Periodicity — how regular those operations are; • Continuity — whether a haulier is engaged solely in cabotage for a given period.
All of which makes the situation as clear as mud. More helpful for hauliers. perhaps, is the fact that when assessing the duration of cabotage operations, member states may specify a maximum period of one to two months.
EU definition
An EU consultation document on the issue is currently up for discussion; James Hookham. Freight Transport Association (FIA) director of policy, supports the option of limiting cabotage to a few times per year for up to a month, with details recorded in logbooks.
France has cut the number of days foreign hauliers can legally work within its borders from 60 to 45 clays per year; Greece has also revised its cabotage regulations.
The idea of an EU definition of exactly what constitutes "temporary" seems attractive. But Peter Cullum, Road Haulage Association head of international affairs, suggests there is a problem with introducing a hard and fast rule across numerous countries: "Some states may need foreign hauliers to carry out cabotage, because otherwise their economy would be restricted. It doesn't apply to the UK but may do to others."
As the 11K is a net importer of goods, it is no surprise that the number of foreign vehicles entering the country is greater than the number of domestic hauliers returning from abroad. Cullum explains: In term.s of roll-on roll-off, three quarters of all vehicles coming into the UK are foreign operators. It used to be half, 10 to 15 years ago.
-The enforcement focus has to be on companies that should he registered in the UK.
It's a road safety issue rather than a competition issue." He believes the UK authorities haven't been doing enough and Vosa admits that limited resources mean cabotage breaches may well take second place in an investigation to more serious hours offences.
Although estimates suggest cabotage accounts for about 1% of EU road transport, Hookham points out that this figure represents its proportion of all mileage, including domestic journeys that will never he undertaken by foreign operators, such as refuse collection and fuel deliveries.
Unfair advantage
It you calculate the proportion of domestic journeys performed by foreign operators in sectors where their vehicles can compete-such as container haulage and palletised goods he believes it rises as high as 25%.
But the F l'A's main concern over cabotage legal or otherwise is that foreign vehicles can fill up at home and operate in the UK on diesel taxed at an average of i0.2211it compared with the UK's .E.0.471.This alone makes them about 10% cheaper to operate in the UK than UK registered trucks, it says.
Hookham doesn't mince his words: "By imposing the highest fuel taxes in Europe, the Chancellor has hung a big notice round the groin of the British haulage industry saying kick here' in 24 different languages." But that,of course. is not the E LJ's problem.
11 you are concerned a haulier is breaching the cabotage rules, phone Vosa's intelligence hotline on 0870 6060 440.