07-12-07 VOSA wins cabotage case against Banham
The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) welcomes the Transport Tribunal’s recent decision not to return impounded vehicles after a cabotage case with Banham Operators.
Suffolk-based operator Gary Banham, who was operating Belgian registered vehicles and purporting to be a genuine Belgian operator, claimed to be operating in Great Britain (GB) legitimately under cabotage rules. However, the bulk of this operation was found to be conducted outside the normal interpretation of ‘temporary’, the basis by which lawful cabotage operations are defined. Gary Banham was therefore considered to be in breach of GB operator licensing requirements.
Senior Traffic Commissioner Philip Brown, acting as Deputy Traffic Commissioner at the time, announced his decision on 27 April, but Gary Banham lodged an appeal against the decision.
The Transport Tribunal's review upheld the Deputy TC's decision not to return the impounded vehicles to Banham operators. This decision was published by the Transport Tribunal on 4 December 2007.
Gordon MacDonald, VOSA’s Traffic Enforcement Policy Advisor said:
“This is an important decision for VOSA because it allows us to clarify our overall policy on cabotage enforcement. We now have a robust precedent for dealing with unlawfully 'flagged out' operators who remain established in Great Britain.”
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NOTES TO EDITOR:
Cabotage
Regulation 3118/93 allows non-resident hauliers to carry out temporary cabotage operations in another European Union Member State. However the term “temporary” was not defined in the Regulation and this has caused controversy when it came to enforcing the law.
On the basis of a European Court ruling of 30 November 1995 and following consultation with the European Commission, the Department of Transport has decided that to ensure compliance with Regulation 3118/93, the UK will interpret “temporary” based on the following criteria:
• The activity of a transport company is under no circumstances permanent, frequent, or on a regular or continuous basis.
• If the vehicles of a company engaged in cabotage never leave the UK, there is an infringement of the Regulation
• That activities are carried out entirely on a casual and circumstantial basis at considerable and infrequent intervals
• There is proof of exit from the country on specific occasions, and at least once a month
Central to this interpretation of temporary is the requirement that a foreign - registered vehicle must exit this country at least once a month.
VOSA (Vehicle and Operator Services Agency) is responsible for:
• Processing applications for licences to operate lorries and buses and registering bus services
• Operating and administering testing schemes for all vehicles, including the supervision of the
MOT testing scheme
• Enforcing the law on vehicles to ensure that they comply with legal standards and regulations
• Enforcing drivers' hours and licensing requirements
• Supporting Traffic Commissioners to help them make informed decisions on operator
licensing, vocational drivers and bus registration requirements
• Providing training and advice for commercial operators
• Investigating vehicle accidents, defects and recalls.
For media enquiries about VOSA, please contact: Zita Easton on 0117 954 2561 or Luke Bigwood on 0117 954 3208. You can also e-mail press@vosa.gov.uk
Page last updated: 10/12/2007