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RNA anger at NI duty freeze
Page 8
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• by Dominic Perry The Road Haulage Association has reacted with fury to the government's refusal to implement the recommendation of an influential select committee and slash diesel duty in Northern Ireland.
The Northern Ireland Select Committee urged the government to implement a reduced rate of duty in the province, following its second report into the effects of the fuel price differential between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.
However, In his response to the document treasury minister John Healey says: "Departing from [the] principle of unitary taxation in the case of Northern Ireland would set a precedent that would be hkely to lead to calls for similar treatment in other parts of the UK."
He also says that the EU would be unlikely to approve any such duty reduction and the government will instead increase its enforcement action against fuel smugglers.
But Roger King, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association, which gave evidence to the committee on the damage that the differential does to the country's haulage industry, fumes: "It's an absurd response by the government to think they can control the problem simply through enforcement. They can't just reduce the duty in Northern Ireland as that would be illegal, so there's only one answer—and that's to reduce it across the UK to a more competitive level."
The government's own figures suggest that it lost almost £370m in 2001 due to fuel smuggling and legitimate cross-border trade as a result of the whopping 30p difference in fuel prices between the two countries.
It also estimates two-thirds of all fuel outlets in Northern Ireland sell smuggled fuel.
Bob Armstrong, Scottish regional director of the Freight Transport Association, adds: "We were never overly optimistic that they would reduce the duty, the prospect of getting the Chancellor to change his mind must be virtually nil.
"We have more important issues to resolve, such as obtaining a reduction for the whole of the UK which is still twice the European average."
• A major fuel laundering plant in Co Tyrone has been shut down and equipment seized by Customs & Excise. The shedbased operation had the capacity to launder around 05,000 litres of fuel a month.