News

The government has abandoned proposals that would have forced UK haulage firms to routinely provide police with information about goods coming in and out of the country.

A Home Office spokeswoman says the department is reviewing the s33 section of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality (IAN) Act 2006 that allows officers to ask hauliers to regularly provide details about the nature and size of individual freight consignments. So far, it has  not been activated.

She continues: "The Home Office has worked closely with the freight industry to identify ways in which the information can be provided through other means, and not rely on legislation.

"We will continue to review the situation before making a decision to implement this power. There is no plan to repeal the primary legislation."

Both the Freight Transport Association (FTA) and Road Haulage Association (RHA) say the proposals would have resulted in "significant extra costs" for transport firms.

FTA head of supply chain policy Christopher Snelling believes the Home Office is looking at voluntary agreements as a way of taking the proposals forward, and that his organisation will "engage in this debate".

He adds: "We welcome the decision to abandon the initial proposals, which appeared totally unworkable, to the extent that they had been developed  at all.

"We have not been presented with any evidence to suggest that the current intelligence-led system is ineffective."

Peter Cullum, RHA head of international affairs, adds: "The RHA and others have been advising the Home Office for three years on the best way to proceed, and we are pleased it has decided to review its position."