Memorandum by the Road Haulage Association
Ltd (EU 24)
EUROPEAN UNION COMPETENCE AND TRANSPORT
When Roger King and I appeared before the Select
Committee in connection with the above inquiry, I agreed to come
back to the committee on a couple of issues. I apologise for the
delay in responding.
FLAGGING OUT
A member of the Committee asked whether the
practise of hauliers "flagging out" (ie registering
their businesses in the Republic of Ireland) remained common.
The RHA believes that since Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) rates in
the UK have reduced, flagging out has become less of an attractive
option and we are not aware of hauliers opting for this in any
significant numbers.
However, we believe that this situation may
change radically if the Government's plans for Lorry Road User
Charging are implemented as planned in Northern Ireland.
CROSS-BORDER
FUELLING/SMUGGLING
Legitimate cross-border fuelling remains extremely
common. Indeed, no haulier located within about 50 miles of the
border would even consider filling up in Northern Ireland such
is the difference in prices. Naturally this helps Northern Ireland
based hauliers to be able to compete with operators based in the
Republic. Unfortunately it places those operators in NI (and indeed
in Scotland and in the North of England) without access to the
cheap fuel at a distinct disadvantage. The RHA believes that the
only way to address this problem is to bring the effective rates
of fuel duty in the UK into line with the rest of Europe.
Similarly smuggling remains a very big problem,
despite the best efforts of HMCE enforcement officers. Only by
removing the incentive (ie the difference in fuel prices) can
this problem be addressed effectively.
I hope this information is useful.
12 July 2004
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