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Stowaway blitz will hit hauliers

9th March 2000, Page 12
9th March 2000
Page 12
Page 12, 9th March 2000 — Stowaway blitz will hit hauliers
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

• by Karen Miles Dealing with Mike Tyson and General Pinochet might have made the Home Office appear to lack political direction, but in one month's time international truck operators could be taking the brunt of that department's attempt to retrieve its reputation for efficiency.

From April the Home Office plans to fine international operators £2.000 for each stowaway found in their trailers in an attempt to stop some of the thousands of illegal immigrants who are entering the country by stealth. A highly publicised clamp-down would send an efficient message to illegal immigrants and security-sloppy operators, but would also improve the Home Offices public image.

With the start date only a month away there remains much to do. The government has yet to publish the final version of its anti-stowaway code of practice and lay it before parliament. And there is still a long way to go before operators can start to use a high-security trailer inspection site in Calais, The code of practice is Important because it will lay out the steps operators should take to avoid bringing illegal immigrants into the UK. Operators and drivers should be able to argue their way out of a fine if they can prove to a London Home Office administration unit for appeals that they adhered carefully to the code's stipulations.

Appeal

Fined operators deciding to appeal will be given 30 days to lodge their case at the unit, leaving any payment of the fine until after the appeal.

The code, which was modified by the Home Office after discussion with the Road Haulage and Freight Transport Associations, will state trailer bodies must be checked fully during loading, whenever they are re-opened and when there is a change of driver.

The Home Office will back down on a demand that non-Customs sealeo a-ailers should be opened after a change of driver. Instead the code will say drivers should open the seal "where possible", "We are not going to make people invalidate their insurance," says a Home Office spokesperson.

Drivers will have to inspect their trailer bodies and roofs thoroughly before driving on to UK-bound boats or trains. The Home Office has agreed roof checks can take place from inside the trailer after complaints from the RHA and FTA that forcing a driver to scramble up trailer sides to inspect the roof contravenes health and safety legislation.

But the biggest task remaining is the setting up of a trailer checking facility at the port of Calais, possibly followed by similar sites at otner Continental ports. No facilities are expected to be in place there for at least another six months, forcing operators and drivers at this busy port to use more basic methods of surveillance until it opens.

The RHA and FTA are hopeful that a "sanitised facility" will be set up 10km or 15km from Calais and run by a private security company whose staff will check trailers and deal properly with stowaways. Operators will pay for the service, with the aim that trucks leave the compound with an allclear certificate.

Half a dozen security companies are said to be showing an interest, and the RHA and FTA are trying to fix up a meeting with the French authorities, the Calais Chamber of Commerce and the ferry operators so that they can move ahead.

But the project is still uncertain. No-one knows what kind of facility it will be: one with gantries allowing safe inspection of trailer roofs, a unit to detect carbon dioxide breathed Out by stowaways or one using sniffer dogs. There is also the question of commercial viability. If the site becomes successful at ending attempts at illegal immigration, it risks cutting off its Own income.

Most important is the still unknown level of support from the French authorities. Although the port is keen to participate, the French government has little to gain by taking on many of the immigrants who would otherwise have been discovered in the UK.

Diligence

But operators—and, most particularly, drivers—need the scheme to happen. Not only should it provide a certificate of diligence on the stowaway issue to present to the Home Office, but it should be safer for drivers, who will be able to open their trailer doors with security officers present.

"Who wants to open a trailer alone at night, not knowing who might be in there?" asks Mike Freeman, head of International transport at the RHA. "A secure facility at Calais would at least help drivers ready to travel home."


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