'Not until 1992'
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and Italy have adopted similar positions.
fl Inspection of fuel tanks at EEC borders will be virtually scrapped by October 1 if EEC ministers accept a proposal put forward by the Brussels Commission last month.
The Commission wants to raise to 600 litres the amount of fuel which may be imported duty-free in lorry tanks. The current limit is 200 litres, which is adhered to by only the Germans and French.
Commission officials say that, as the capacity of normal tanks does not exceed 600 litres, there would be no further border checks needed in most cases.
Passenger-carrying vehicles are already allowed 600 dutyfree litres, but West Germany has so far opposed extending these rules to lorries.
The Germans fear that raising the fuel "allowance" will encourage shippers to switch their business to Rotterdam and then move their goods to West Germany by lorries running on cheap Dutch fuel.
The move follows another recent EEC directive (CM, June 28), which proposes an end to frontier checks on lorry and trailer dimensions.