1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198 
EU enlargement 'is leading to crackdown on cabotage'
Page 12
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
According to a Dutch lawyer, cabotage is coming under increasing scrutiny across the European Union. Guy Sheppard reports.
A CRACKDOWN on cabotage operations in the UK heralds a new wave of protectionism in European road transport, according to a Dutch lawyer.
Han Vallenduuk is representing RynartTrading.which was warned in December that its vehicles would be impounded if its cabotage operations continued from UK ports.
However, Vallenduuk claims that the warning from the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (Vosa) contradicts a ruling made by the European Commission two years ago clarifying when cabotage is legitimate.
Vosa says it is awaiting legal opinion on the case but adds that several companies have pulled out of cabotage operations as a result of the crackdown.
Rynart, which is based near Rotterdam. delivers containers from UK ports Vallenduuk explains: "My client is crossing every week with loaded vehicles. When the load has been dropped somewhere in the UK, he comes back to the harbour and picks up a trailer from the same shipper that has come from Holland.
"He's doing a maximum of two cabotage operations each time and does them within two to three days." Vellendunk adds The Rynart case centres on whether or not its work is being conducted "on a temporary basis" in line with EC requirements. The EC ruling is that such operations are not legitimate if "carried out systematically and not just on an ad hoc basis".
Vallenduuk believes that following EU enlargement in May 2004. France, Germany and Holland aswell as the UK have started adopting more protectionist policies towards road transport.