At a meeting organized by a delegation from the British Embassy in Spain, representatives from the United Kingdom’s Border Monitoring Authority, the Border Force and the National Road Transport Committee met to address transport sector concerns regarding the new scheme. Penalties for stowaways.
During the meeting, the Border Force delegation got an opportunity to hear the specific concerns and problems raised by the carriers and associations, which are part of the National Road Transport Committee, which allowed exchange of views and perspectives. necessary for mutual understanding and the search for effective solutions.
The meeting took place after Carmelo González Sayas, president of the merchandise section of the National Transport Committee (CNTC), sent a letter to Francisco Alvarez, attache of the British Embassy in Spain, to express his concern about excessive harshness. With which the British authorities are applying their accepted rules in matters of finding stowaways in transport vehicles.
In the opinion of the National Committee, the presumption of innocence and the principle of guilt have also been violated by holding the driver of the vehicle objectively responsible without any evidence.
Tougher fines for clandestine entry of immigrants from February 13
As of February 13, amendments to immigration and asylum law that consider two types of restrictions will be implemented:
1) Not securing truck doors
Failure to secure the doors of a goods transport vehicle with locking elements, seals or other security devices carries a maximum fine of £6,000 (€6,785.13) for the driver and £6,000 (€6,785.13) for the company for each offence. There will be a fine (£12,000 (total – €13,570.27)).
When the driver is sanctioned, the employer, owner or lessee of the vehicle will be jointly and severally responsible for paying the fine to the driver.
2) Transport to a secret location
The maximum amount of the fine increases to £10,000 (€11,308.56) per illegality for the driver and company and £10,000 (€11,308.56) per illegality (€22,617.11) for the company, regardless of whether both the driver and the company were illegal. Know that there were immigrants in their vehicle.
The employer shall be jointly and severally liable for non-payment of allowance to the driver.
How to avoid restrictions
To avoid the fine, the company must demonstrate that it has an effective system in place to prevent the entry of illegal immigrants and that the system works properly.
Enroll in the Civilian Restrictions Accreditation Program
One of the measures to reduce fines is for the company to enroll in the Civil Penalty Accreditation Program. A completely free registration and in which all transport companies are accepted. To register, you will need to fill out an online form, which will be reviewed by the Border Force.
For both types of fines, there is a 50% discount for companies participating in the Border Force Civilian Penalties Accreditation Scheme.
application of control list or checklist
A “check list” has been prepared of items that the driver should review during the journey and take with them to the cabin, so that in the event of a theft, they can show the Border Force agent that they are essential Preventive measures have been taken.
A company that uses the “check list” correctly and is immersed in the approval process for stowaways will be able to reduce approval by 50%.
This means that if the company is also linked to the program, the penalty will be reduced by 100%. Since it is understood that the company has made every effort so that this situation does not occur, even if it did happen.
The new rule which sets out vehicle safety standards includes a code of good practice which sets out the circumstances in which sanction levels can be reduced.
