Govts urged to crack down on illegal fuel trade
The British and Irish governments were urged today to introduce new licensing regimes for petrol stations to freeze owners who sell illegal fuel out of the business.
The latest report by the four-member Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) said republican paramilitaries had profited mostly from fuel smuggling and the trade in illegal oil.
Non-paramilitary criminals were also involved but had to give a slice of their profits to terror groups.
But the commission was concerned the current licensing regimes in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic were too focused on public safety and did not appear to have the power to refuse a licence to anyone trading in illegal fuel.
“We do not think that this position reflects the seriousness of the present situation,” the IMC said.
“There would be a considerable beneficial impact for a licensing scheme which did two things.
“First, which allowed account to be taken of the suitability of the trader to operate in a business which has been infiltrated by criminals.
“This would help prevent people from operating outlets if they were known to have been involved in the illicit trade.
“And second, a regime which allowed filling stations to be closed if they had been engaged in the illegal fuel trade.”
Fuel fraud in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic takes three forms.
Those involved in it launder fuel sold legally in both countries with very low rates of duty mainly for agricultural purposes by removing the dyes used to identify them and selling them on to the public at a price reflecting the full rate of duty.
Laundered or legal fuel from the Irish Republic, which has lower duty rates to Northern Ireland, is sometimes sold north of the border.
Illegal household, rebated or smuggled fuel, or a mixture of those types is also sometimes sold through retail outlets, mainly in Northern Ireland.
The IMC said Customs officers had had a number of successes, dismantling 59 fuel laundering plants, had seized more than eight million litres of illegal oil and nearly 3,500 vehicles and had secured 27 convictions.
But the problem remained widespread.
It also expressed concern at the way smuggled fuel was transported in lorries around Ireland, claiming it exposed other motorists to the risk of a serious accident.
The commission said: “We recognise that there are a number of issues to do with combating the illicit fuel trade – none in a matter as complex as this capable of offering a solution on its own.
“Rigorous law enforcement and close co-operation between the UK and Irish agencies are clearly at the heart of things. As for Ireland, so the UK, we single out one thing which we believe can make a valuable contribution, namely licensing.
“In this field, as in connection with the taxi and alcohol trades and the security industry on which we have reported before, the licensing regime has not been adapted to take account of this manifestation of organised crime in either Ireland or in Northern Ireland and of the part paramilitaries play in it.
“We welcome the Organised Crime Taskforce-led review of petroleum licensing in Northern Ireland. We are aware of no comparable review in Ireland.
“We recommend that the Governments of the UK and Ireland should introduce licensing regimes which would enable the closure of businesses which have been engaged in the illicit fuel trade and would keep out of the industry all those shown to have been involved in that iicit trade, together with anyone fronting for them.”
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