Duty free fuel in ports post-Brexit

Mr Baxter said in a recent blog post that the potential reintroduction of customs clearance will clearly increase the cost of transporting good from the UK to Europe and vice versa, diminishing the competitiveness of UK exports and negatively impacting UK manufacturers and consumers alike.

“Currently, all fuel used by UK driver accompanied vehicles transporting goods to or from the continent is purchased on the continent,” he said. “Whether the trucks are British or foreign, they all fuel up on the continent.

“They do this because fuel duties on the continent are much lower than in the UK… Therefore all commercial drivers who operate these routes are under strict instructions never to fuel up in the UK.”

Mr Baxter revealed that Europa Worldwide Group operates around 100 international vehicles, and all fuel is purchased abroad. “From my trucks alone, this puts about £2m into overseas’ tax incomes per annum. A rough calculation is that around £1bn per annum of fuel tax on fuel used for the transport of goods to or from the UK goes entirely into continental tax revenues.”

Mr Baxter’s solution is simple: create a duty-free zone for fuel within the ports for vehicles that are either coming into or leaving the UK. “This would cost the UK government plus minus nothing in fuel tax revenues, as these vehicles fuel up on the continent anyway,” he explained.

“The net impact of doing this would be that it would reduce the cost of the transportation of goods between the UK and Europe. In total, it would offset the increased costs due to the introduction of customs clearance, thus broadly protecting importers and exporters from any negative cost impact of Brexit.”