sailorman
Well-Known Member
Dear Mr Sailorman
Thank you for your email.
The Government confirmed yesterday that it has no intention to make it unlawful for red diesel bought in the UK to be used outside UK territorial waters. In international waters, recreational boaters are not subject to any restrictions on the use of red diesel.
However, it is a fundamental principle of international law that if you visit the territorial waters of another country then you are subject to that country's fiscal laws. Article 21 of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea makes it clear that Coastal States have fiscal jurisdiction over their territorial waters. In practice, of course, most countries adopt the principle of "comity" (short for "comity of nations"), which means "the friendly recognition accorded by one nation to the laws and usages of another", but this does not mean that Coastal States cannot, or that some do not, apply their own fiscal rules to visiting vessels around the world if they choose to do so.
The purpose of the various EU Directives was to ensure that all EU member states exercised their fiscal jurisdiction in the same way but, unfortunately, the drafting of the Directives was such that different member states have interpreted them differently. It is this disparity that we are seeking to resolve with the UK and Belgian Governments and the European Commission.
The only country in which we are aware of UK boaters (or local boaters returning from the UK) having been penalised for the mere presence of marked diesel in their yachts’ main fuel tanks is Belgium. Like the UK, Ireland continues to allow private pleasure craft to use marked diesel and marked diesel is widely available in non-EU countries such as Norway and the Channel Islands. The Dutch authorities have confirmed that they have no difficulty with UK yachtsmen having red diesel in their yachts' fuel tanks and we have no indication that either the French or Spanish authorities take a different view.
The situation in Belgium existed long before the Minister's announcement on 20 February 2012 and it will not be resolved by HMRC's proposed amendment to the declaration boaters make when buying diesel in the UK. The Government is optimistic, however, that as a result of the proposed amendment to the declaration the European Commission will withdraw its infraction proceedings against the UK. If this proves to be the case, it would greatly assist the RYA's discussions with the Belgian Government.
It is worth bearing in mind that a substantial number of UK motor and sailing yachts visit Belgium every year and yet only a very few have been accosted by the authorities and fewer still have been fined. We have received reports from fewer than half a dozen individuals who have been fined in Belgium in the last couple of years, despite having had all the appropriate receipts etc on board, and I am aware of a contingent of motor cruisers from the Thames that visited Belgium last year without incident. I have also spoken to yachtsmen who have been stopped by the Belgian authorities when the authorities have taken no interest at all in the colour of fuel on board and we are aware of a number of rallies to Belgium organised for later this year in relation to which the Belgian authorities have indicated that they will not take action against visiting UK yachts over the colour of diesel.
The principal reason behind our lobbying for private pleasure craft to be able to continue to use marked diesel was to secure the continued availability of diesel fuel. Many suppliers of diesel to pleasure craft only have a single diesel tank and pump and, had these suppliers been obliged to supply only unmarked diesel to private pleasure craft, they would have been faced with the cost of either installing a second fuel tank and pumping equipment or flushing their old tank and equipment and thereafter only supplying unmarked diesel.
Research conducted by the RYA and the BMF in 2005 indicated that, had suppliers been obliged to supply only unmarked diesel to private pleasure craft, approximately one third of the suppliers then supplying diesel to leisure boaters would have ceased to do so and would have limited their supplies to marked diesel for commercial operators. This would have had a significant impact on the availability of diesel for leisure boaters in more remote parts of the country, especially where coastal harbours cater predominantly for commercial (fishing) craft. Such areas include Scotland, Northern Ireland and the West Country.
The converse was the case for the inland waterways. Nearly half of the suppliers supplying diesel to leisure boaters in 2005 indicated that they would have ceased supplying marked diesel. This would have had a significant impact on the availability of marked diesel for those narrowboats and barges (many of which are people’s homes) that rely on such fuel for providing heating and electricity generation.
The RYA has been working hard on this issue on behalf of recreational boaters for nearly ten years now, and continues to do so, in an effort to ensure that the UK Government finds a resolution that is right for all UK boaters, wherever they are located in the UK and wherever they do their cruising or racing.
With kind regards.
Gus
Gus Lewis
Head of Legal & Government Affairs
Royal Yachting Association
T: 023 8060 4220 | E: gus.lewis@rya.org.uk
Thank you for your email.
The Government confirmed yesterday that it has no intention to make it unlawful for red diesel bought in the UK to be used outside UK territorial waters. In international waters, recreational boaters are not subject to any restrictions on the use of red diesel.
However, it is a fundamental principle of international law that if you visit the territorial waters of another country then you are subject to that country's fiscal laws. Article 21 of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea makes it clear that Coastal States have fiscal jurisdiction over their territorial waters. In practice, of course, most countries adopt the principle of "comity" (short for "comity of nations"), which means "the friendly recognition accorded by one nation to the laws and usages of another", but this does not mean that Coastal States cannot, or that some do not, apply their own fiscal rules to visiting vessels around the world if they choose to do so.
The purpose of the various EU Directives was to ensure that all EU member states exercised their fiscal jurisdiction in the same way but, unfortunately, the drafting of the Directives was such that different member states have interpreted them differently. It is this disparity that we are seeking to resolve with the UK and Belgian Governments and the European Commission.
The only country in which we are aware of UK boaters (or local boaters returning from the UK) having been penalised for the mere presence of marked diesel in their yachts’ main fuel tanks is Belgium. Like the UK, Ireland continues to allow private pleasure craft to use marked diesel and marked diesel is widely available in non-EU countries such as Norway and the Channel Islands. The Dutch authorities have confirmed that they have no difficulty with UK yachtsmen having red diesel in their yachts' fuel tanks and we have no indication that either the French or Spanish authorities take a different view.
The situation in Belgium existed long before the Minister's announcement on 20 February 2012 and it will not be resolved by HMRC's proposed amendment to the declaration boaters make when buying diesel in the UK. The Government is optimistic, however, that as a result of the proposed amendment to the declaration the European Commission will withdraw its infraction proceedings against the UK. If this proves to be the case, it would greatly assist the RYA's discussions with the Belgian Government.
It is worth bearing in mind that a substantial number of UK motor and sailing yachts visit Belgium every year and yet only a very few have been accosted by the authorities and fewer still have been fined. We have received reports from fewer than half a dozen individuals who have been fined in Belgium in the last couple of years, despite having had all the appropriate receipts etc on board, and I am aware of a contingent of motor cruisers from the Thames that visited Belgium last year without incident. I have also spoken to yachtsmen who have been stopped by the Belgian authorities when the authorities have taken no interest at all in the colour of fuel on board and we are aware of a number of rallies to Belgium organised for later this year in relation to which the Belgian authorities have indicated that they will not take action against visiting UK yachts over the colour of diesel.
The principal reason behind our lobbying for private pleasure craft to be able to continue to use marked diesel was to secure the continued availability of diesel fuel. Many suppliers of diesel to pleasure craft only have a single diesel tank and pump and, had these suppliers been obliged to supply only unmarked diesel to private pleasure craft, they would have been faced with the cost of either installing a second fuel tank and pumping equipment or flushing their old tank and equipment and thereafter only supplying unmarked diesel.
Research conducted by the RYA and the BMF in 2005 indicated that, had suppliers been obliged to supply only unmarked diesel to private pleasure craft, approximately one third of the suppliers then supplying diesel to leisure boaters would have ceased to do so and would have limited their supplies to marked diesel for commercial operators. This would have had a significant impact on the availability of diesel for leisure boaters in more remote parts of the country, especially where coastal harbours cater predominantly for commercial (fishing) craft. Such areas include Scotland, Northern Ireland and the West Country.
The converse was the case for the inland waterways. Nearly half of the suppliers supplying diesel to leisure boaters in 2005 indicated that they would have ceased supplying marked diesel. This would have had a significant impact on the availability of marked diesel for those narrowboats and barges (many of which are people’s homes) that rely on such fuel for providing heating and electricity generation.
The RYA has been working hard on this issue on behalf of recreational boaters for nearly ten years now, and continues to do so, in an effort to ensure that the UK Government finds a resolution that is right for all UK boaters, wherever they are located in the UK and wherever they do their cruising or racing.
With kind regards.
Gus
Gus Lewis
Head of Legal & Government Affairs
Royal Yachting Association
T: 023 8060 4220 | E: gus.lewis@rya.org.uk
