Red Diesel and Holland

bendyone

bendyone

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I have received this from the Dutch

Thank you very much for your enquiry regarding the use of red diesel on pleasure crafts to the Netherlands. In the meantime we have received a number of emails about this matter and therefore I have contacted both Dutch Customs and HM Revenue & Customs.

I have received a letter from HM Revenue & Customs stating the following:

QUOTE "On accession to the European Union, the UK policy of charging the reduced rate of duty for diesel used in pleasure craft was allowed to continue under derogation from the relevant EU Directives (initially the Oils Structure Directive (92/81/EEC), which was replaced by the Energy Products Directive (2003/96/EC)). The derogation was originally due to expire in 2001 but was extended for a period of five years.
The UK is one of five Member States with derogations, under the Energy Products Directive permitting the use of red diesel in private pleasure craft, the others being Ireland, Belgium, Finland and Malta. The derogations held by Member States under this Directive expired at 31 December 2006.

From the above it can be seen that pleasure boats sailing in the Netherlands territorial waters were never allowed to use red diesel, i.e. the Netherland position has never changed. Obviously the owners sailing there from the UK are not aware of this anomaly and have now been found in breach of the legislation that has always existed in the Netherlands and to which they should have always complied." UNQUOTE

The Dutch Customs have received a copy of this letter.

I hope the above information is satisfactory. If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

Hoping to have been of assistance.

Yours sincerely,

Suzanne Bosman

Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Economic Department
38 Hyde Park Gate
London SW7 5DP
Tel. +44 (0)207 590 3256
Fax +44 (0)207 581 3450
Website: www.netherlands-embassy.org.uk

Seam we have all been breaking the law
 
Now all it needs is some intelligent sod in the civil service to realise that if this argument is valid, it can also be applied to cigarettes, wines etc. bought at other EC states' perfectly legal tax rates and imported to the UK.
Luckily I have a bottle of performance enhancing red fluid which I intend to add to my diesel tank in the future.

Another thought - isn't there a limit on the amount of duty free goods that can be brought into the UK from abroad, e.g Channel Islands, and this would include diesel ?
 
So does this mean British Customs should stop continental motorists as they come off the Ferries and fine them for not having British fuel with all it's taxes etc, in their tanks?

Thank God for the EU! Think what a mess we would be in without it!

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
I still fail to see the PRACTICAL implementation of this. Are we supposed to empty our diesel tanks as soon as we enter Dutch terretorial waters and replace the deisel with excise-paid fuel which will still appear "red" if dipped?
This letter appears to be a typical cop-out from a diplomat - i.e. "these are the rules Guv, it's your job to work out how to comply with them". The previous Dutch Ambassador to the Court of St James was a sailor (I met him in Fox's Marina about 10 years ago) and I'm sure he would have had a more sensible reply.
 
suspect its more of a raggie issue than mobo as we tend to fill up more often and in amounts that have us retaining receipts!

and by the end of 2009 my tank will be pretty white if that's what we run on then - many raggies will still be on their 2005 fuel from what I here!
 
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