British Stowaway Bill Gains Trucking Support

PARIS — Legislation to fine British truck drivers more than $3,000 for each illegal immigrant found onboard their trucks will contain safeguards to protect “truly innocent drivers,” said Britain’s Freight Transport Association, which represents trucking interests.

The Immigration and Asylum Bill, made public in February, is aimed at stowaways on trucks. It requires truck drivers to conduct thorough checks of trailers or risk being fined for unknowingly transporting illegal immigrants into the country.

The proposal would strengthen criminal penalties, which already include long jail sentences for knowingly bringing illegal immigrants into Britain.

Penny Mordaunt, spokeswoman for FTA, said the British Home Office, which is responsible for the legislation, plans to work with the country’s two main trucking associations over the next year to ensure the legislation treats truck drivers fairly. She said the government agency would not assess fines until that work was completed.

“They seem to have taken our comments onboard,” she said. “If you are going to have fines for this, obviously you have to protect those truck drivers who are truly innocent.”

Over the next year, representatives of the Home Office, FTA and the Road Haulage Association, the other trucking group, are expected to consider the use of body heat and carbon dioxide detectors at ports of entry. Another option is dogs capable of picking up human scents in sealed trailers.

he biggest challenge will be establishing guidelines for what constitutes a good-faith effort by truck drivers to check their rigs for stowaways and avoid being fined, Mordaunt said.

Geoff Dossetter, head of the FTA’s external affairs department, put it this way:

“We look forward to working with the Home Office in order to devise a set of practical and efficient conditions, which will enable the innocent driver to demonstrate that he has taken every possible and practical action to avoid stowaways.”

Another challenge will be balancing the need for strict enforcement with the efficient flow of goods into the country.

“It is essential that future inspection arrangements . . . do not unreasonably affect the efficiency or expediency of vehicle schedules, of port operations and of the interests of the consignors or consignees of the goods being carried,” Dossetter said.