Forwarders, shippers blast EU noise, pollution truck tax

A MEMBER state scheme to tax European truckers for air and noise pollution has been slammed "unacceptable" by forwarder and shipper associations.

The EU said its proposal to revise the so-called Eurovignette Directive will also "enable member states to better manage problems of congestion, with a new flexibility to differentiate the charges applied to HGVs at different periods of the day," reports London's International Freighting Weekly.

If the European Parliament approves the rule, some EU member states would be able to charge an extra three to four cents (US$0.04 - $0.05) per kilometre on top of the current toll rate of 15-20 cents on lorries above 3.5 tonnes, the report said.

"These new rules send the right signals to operators. The aim is to incentivise a shift in behaviour," said Siim Kallas, the EU's Transport Commissioner.

Nicolette van der Jagt, secretary general of the European Shippers' Council disagrees: "The impact of this proposal, if implemented, could be substantial for Europe's economy, particularly in those regions where there is simply no viable or practical alternative to road freight transport."

The directive will also allow countries to raise tolls by up to 175 per cent during peak rush hours, although they must be reduced by the same amount during off-peak hours.

Alexander Sakkers of the International Road Transport Union (IRU) branded the proposals "unacceptable," saying: "Ministers have failed to tackle the congestion problem at source, since they foresee charges for road freight transport only, although this represents a mere 10 per cent of all road users.

"The council has ignored all the taxes, charges and duties already paid by the road freight industry, as well as the enormous additional burden these new charges will impose on the economies of individual member states.

"The ministers' decision is bad for the economy and bad for the environment."
(Source:www.schednet.com)