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Welcome to the latest edition of the FTA's European Road Freight digest, featuring news of interest to members active in the European road freight sector. We welcome any comments and suggestions for new topics you would like to see included. Send your views to Don Armour. If you no longer wish to receive the digest or wish to add colleagues to the circulation list please contact Member Services.
Countries
GERMANY
Summer driving restrictions
A reminder to members that some EU states will shortly be introducing the regular summer holiday period additional driving restrictions. Details of the restrictions by country are posted on the international trade pages of the new-style FTA website and may be accessed here.
The German summer traffic bans are imposed on each Saturday between 1 July and 31 August 2018 (07.00 – 20.00) on all HGVs over 7.5t gvw (gross vehicle weight) to ensure a smooth flow of holiday traffic.
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ITALY
Ban on regular weekly rest in the driver’s cab
On 30 April 2018, the Italian Ministry of Interior issued a statement regarding the European Court of Justice decision, which took place on 20 December 2017, enforcing the ban on having the regular weekly rest period in the lorry cab.
In the event of an infringement, the sanction is the same as if the weekly rest is not even taken. Therefore, the Italian Traffic Code is applied, under Article 174, paragraph 7, which foresees a fine ranging from €422 to €1686 following a roadside check.
Source: ANAV/IRU
PAKISTAN
Issuing TIR carnets from April 2018
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, through the activities of the Pakistan National Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce (PNC-ICC), the guaranteeing association, has become the latest country approved by the IRU (International Road Transport Union) to participate in the issuing and terminating of TIR (Transports Internationaux Routiers) carnets. PNC-ICC began this work on 18 April 2018. The activation of the TIR System in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan brings the number of TIR operational countries to 60.
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Port and ferry news
Transport connectivity to ports: DfT review
The DfT has published recently a new report, Transport Infrastructure for our global future – A Study of England’s Port Connectivity, as well as a supporting case study. The publication reviews the current status of rail and road connections to English ports and makes recommendations for future improvements.
In brief, the various studies in the report:
- assess the current ability of inland rail and road networks to move freight to and from ports
- demonstrate the value that ports add to the economy at a local and national level
- lay out a vision for future port connectivity, and
- set out a series of recommendations which are the first step to enhancing port connectivity across the UK
FTA policy staff met with DfT’s study team earlier this year and is quoted in the report at page 46 regarding road and rail connections to ports. The documents can be accessed here.
Long-term roadworks planned for the A16 motorway and Calais port
Eurotunnel has advised that roadworks are being carried out during 2018 in order to re-install lighting overnight with an aim to improve security on the A16 motorway and the Calais port approach road. These works will be carried out as follows:
- First phase: from now for a planned period of approximately eight weeks, the works will take place at junction 47
- Second phase: from mid-June and for a planned period of six months, the works will be carried out on an 8km section of the motorway between junctions 43 and 48 as well as on the port approach road
- Third phase: from mid-October for a planned period of one month, the works will once again take place at junction 47
Eurotunnel has also sent out a reminder that the series of strikes in France at present which include the French national railway service (SNCF) is not affecting its services through the Channel Tunnel and that the company is not at all involved in these actions; services are running as planned.
For 24/7 travel information and shuttle departure times, members may log on to their online account at www.eurotunnelfreight.com and click on ‘Terminal Info’.
Source: Eurotunnel
Customs news
FTA provides oral evidence on customs and Brexit to the House of Lords…..
On 19 April FTA staff provided oral evidence to the House of Lords EU External Affairs Sub-Committee as part of the new inquiry into future customs arrangements after Brexit. Questions from the peers focused on the customs processes for imports and exports from and to third countries, as well as options presented by the UK Government, potential future arrangements and ‘preparedness’ by all parties.
FTA presented the existing customs processes for trade with third countries, showcasing the difference with similar trade movements within the EU. Difficulties for businesses were highlighted by FTA, from post-Brexit tariff rates and customs processes, to the UK’s classification system for goods, in order that SMEs (Small and medium-sized enterprises), in particular, would be able to start preparing actively for Brexit.
…..and also informs the House of Commons
FTA has reminded MPs that simply forming a customs union with the EU would not remove the need for checks at the borders or deliver frictionless arrangements on its own. The consequences of leaving the single market should also be considered and solutions found to minimise regulatory barriers, remove the need for product conformity or food safety checks at the borders, and to protect transport connectivity after Brexit.
While leaving the customs union will lengthen transit times in terms of border checks, and add red tape in terms of customs formalities for traders, leaving the European single market could have an even greater impact on trade, with border controls and regulatory barriers being forced on importers and exporters. To help focus the attention of all decision makers around the negotiating table, FTA has identified eight urgent points where clarification and action are needed, explained below.
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FTA meeting with French customs
During April, Head of European Policy for FTA, Pauline Bastidon, had an open and positive meeting with Rachel Bellegy, in charge of Brexit at French customs. Ms Bellegy expressed a strong interest in maintaining a close dialogue with FTA over the coming weeks and emphasised that one of French customs’ core missions is to protect trade and fluidity, within the limits of the Union Customs Code.
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Update on progress with CDS
HMRC (HM Revenue & Customs) has written to Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee at the House of Commons, on the progress being made with developing its new process known as the Customs Declarations Service (CDS).
Officials explained that CDS was being designed to cope with the additional 300 million declarations expected annually after Brexit, and that HMRC had received £260 million to cover additional adaptation costs in 2018 and 2019. The migration towards CDS will start in August 2018, with a full roll-out planned for January 2019. CHIEF (Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight) will continue to run in parallel, and will be used as a contingency option. HMRC is to explore options on how best to reach out to non-users of CHIEF, for example, those companies that until now have had no experience of making customs declarations. HMRC’s full letter is available here.
TIR: New address for THADA
IRU has been informed that with effect from 1 April 2018, the TIR carnet issuing and guaranteeing association in Turkmenistan, the 'Turkmen Association of International Road Carriers' (THADA/076) has a new address:
THADA
Office # 49/1
03/3, Garashsyzlyk Street
744036
Ashgabat
Turkmenistan
+993 12-48-63-07
+993 12-48-64-02 (TIR Department)
TIR carnets issued prior to 1 April 2018 bearing the previous address of the association will remain valid until the termination of the TIR operation at the customs office of destination (Article 9 of the TIR Convention, 1975). Please note that the stamps and signatures applied to the TIR carnets are unchanged.
Source: IRU
News from FTA's Brussels office
MEPs’ night out to study secure parking problems
Two MEPs with responsibilities for road transport dossiers, together with IRU staff, visited a safe and secure parking facility recently and subsequently each spent the night in a vehicle, to highlight the urgent need to boost parking infrastructure across Europe.
The overnight experience showed how the comfort of modern lorry cabs together with good sanitary and catering facilities can serve the transport industry, which depends on drivers having access to suitable conditions to do their jobs. Both MEPs agreed that they needed to concentrate on areas where they could make a real difference and also to make sure drivers had the chance to return home as often as possible.
The IRU, its member associations and other partners are currently joining forces in a European project to tackle the problem of a lack of suitable lorry parks and to develop an EU standard for safer, more secure and comfortable conditions for drivers.
Source: IRU
Breakfast Brexit meeting with French Ambassador
On 26 April, FTA’s Head of European Policy, Pauline Bastidon, took part in a breakfast roundtable meeting with the French Ambassador to the EU, Philippe Léglise-Costa. Alongside other topics of interest, the Ambassador insisted that a transition period was not an absolute certainty at present and would depend on whether a withdrawal agreement could be finalised and ratified in time.
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New vehicle type-approval arrangements post Brexit
Currently, a vehicle model type-approved by the VCA (Vehicle Certification Agency) can be registered in any EU country thanks to mutual recognition of national certificates. Post Brexit, VCA will no longer be an EU type-approval body and its certificates will no longer be recognised. This will have consequences for vehicle manufacturers including vehicle types that are already on the market and that have been type-approved by VCA. These will have to go through a new type-approval (TA) process with an EU-27 authority.
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Dates for your diary
The next Brexit webinar will take place on Thursday, 17 May, 12.30am CET (11.30am UK time). You can now register online
FTA Keep Britain Trading Conference, on 20 June 2018 at One Great George Street, London – click here to register. See more details below.
FTA Brexit webinar, Thursday 21 June, 12.30am CET (11.30am UK time), click here to register.
Round up
Latest edition of FTA’s European Road Freight Guide now available
The latest 23rd edition of the Freight Transport Association’s specialist guide for companies involved in international freight movements by road, the FTA European Road Freight Guide, is now available to members.
All FTA members subscribing to the International service should have received their free copy already as these were circulated to nominated recipients on our database in each company in the week commencing Monday 23 April. If you have not yet had yours delivered and normally receive a copy please contact the Membership Services team on 03717 11 22 22*.
There is no price increase for the guide again this year, for those members wishing to purchase additional copies for their drivers. Orders can be placed with the FTA Shop online at www.shop.fta.co.uk or by telephone on 03717 11 11 11*, quoting produce code 4055.
*Calls may be recorded for training purposes
FTA Keep Britain Trading Conference
With less than a year left before Brexit, preparation has never been more important. On 20 June, FTA's second Keep Britain Trading conference takes place in London. This one-day event is intended to bring together key decision makers and policy influencers and help delegates plan the changes needed to maintain supply chain efficiency.
The conference will feature keynote speeches from Robin Walker MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union and Karen Wheeler, Head of Border Planning at HMRC, who will be discussing UK Border Readiness for Brexit. It will also feature more hands-on sessions, including workshops on automotive and engineering, food and drink and post and express, a session on groupage traffic and sessions on Brexit readiness and adaptation in Ireland and in continental Europe.
The conference will help to answer the following questions.
- How reliable is the 2020 transition period and should we still plan for a change in procedures from March 2019?
- How will customs declarations be made for EU traded goods?
- Will hauliers need to apply for an International Haulage Permit for their trucks to travel abroad after Brexit?
- What contingency plans should the business be making? What are the chances of a 'no-deal' Brexit?
For more information and to register, please visit the conference webpage on the FTA website.
Low emission zones scams warning
Members will find items relating to the latest low emission zones and urban access regulations in Europe from the CLARS news page.
Sadler Consultants Ltd continues to update its web pages to provide the necessary information about Urban Access Regulations. In addition to those items on its news page, many other points of detail are updated every week.
Scams warning: members are urged to keep alert to possible scams relating to LEZ (Low Emission Zones) and other environmental requirements. Vehicle stickers permitting vehicles to access certain areas of cities or other urban areas should only be bought from the official sources, which are linked to the www.urbanaccessregulations.eu website.
Amongst the practices existing from some other websites are:
- charging up to 10 times as much as the official sources for stickers – in France and Germany
- selling stickers that do not otherwise exist – in Belgium
- charging for services that are free from the official cities’ websites
- simply just taking customers’ money and not providing any stickers or registration services
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Public holidays
Dates for June 2018 include:
Croatia – 22, 25
Denmark – 5
Estonia – 23, 24
Finland – 22, 23
Ireland – 4
Isle of Man – 8
Italy – 2, 30
Latvia – 23, 24
Lithuania – 24
Luxembourg – 23
Moldova – 1
Portugal – 10
Romania – 1
Slovenia – 25
Spain – 9 (regional)
Sweden – 6, 22, 23
Turkey – 15-17
SDR rate
The SDR rate in early May was 1 SDR = £1.0547, making a CMR liability of £8,785 per tonne.
For those members preferring the Euro valuation, 1 SDR = €1.1956, making a CMR liability of €9,960 per tonne.
Fuel prices
Please click here for the latest fuel prices chart, compiled by the IRU in Geneva from information sent in by the transport associations of the countries listed.
FTA services available only to International members
 Do not let language be a problem when a driver is in difficulties at the roadside or border crossing
FTA has entered into partnership with LangCommLive to provide language assistance in the event of an accident or other driver problems. Contact enquiries@LangCommLive.com or tel: 0845 055 9756 and ask for Andrew Rowley.
 Helping our international members with recovering VAT
Let FTA take away the hassle and administer recovering duty on fuel purchased overseas and motorway tolls etc for you. For more information email info@fta.co.uk or call 03717 11 22 22*.
 A one-stop-shop for all your transport consumables
Shop's regularly expanding range offers a wide variety of transport products of interest to Interantional members, including FTA's European Road Transport Guide, CMR Consignment Notes and lots more. To place an order click here, call 03717 11 11 11* or email sales@fta.co.uk.
 Embark here for ferry services information
International department has concluded an agreement with Freightlink Solutions Ltd offering an online enquiry and booking service which is now available to members directly from the International road freight pages of the FTA website. Members can also contact the company at freightlinkbookings@freightlink.co.uk and www.freightlink.co.uk
 Essential documents available from FTA
FTA has a range of documents available to purchase for international members. These forms include on-hire certificates (VE103) sold on behalf of the DVLA and own-account documents. To order these items, email international@fta.co.uk or call 03717 11 22 22*.
*Calls may be recorded for training purposes
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