France and UK resolve abnormal loads confusion

France has today reversed a decision last month that invalidated the so-called ‘roaming permits’ of UK abnormal load hauliers that enable them to operate legally and viably in France, following appeals from UK industry representatives and discussions between the French and UK governments.

The reversal has been warmly welcomed by Rosie Marshall, director of Southampton-based abnormal load specialist agency Convoi Exceptionnel - who last month brought the issue to the attention of Lloyd’s Loading List and has been campaigning for the validity of UK hauliers’ roaming permits to be reinstated.

Marshall commented: “The French have given us our roam permits back and are allowing us the right to apply for new ones. I am ecstatic!”

She praised the work done by the UK’s Heavy Transport Association (HTA) to lobby the UK government on behalf of the heavy and abnormal load industry, and also praised the UK’s Department for Transport (DfT) and their counterparts in France for successfully resolving the matter in a pragmatic and relatively swift way in response to representations from the sector. 

Modestly declining to take credit herself for helping bring about the change via her own vigorous lobbying efforts, Marshall also praised Lloyd’s Loading List for reporting on and helping to publicise the issue, noting: “Your temperate and sensible article on this subject may well have contributed to this win.”

A communiqué this morning from France’s Ministry of the Interior confirms the reversal with immediate effect of the 8 February “provisional” decision, following clarification from France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, confirming that UK abnormal load carriers can continue to operate in France in the same way that they did prior to the UK’s withdrawal from European union   rules since 1 January.

Clarification from France

It noted: “On February 8, we informed you of the provisional position to be taken concerning exceptional transports from the United Kingdom, pending clarification from the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. It appears that the traffic regimes of UK national carriers should not be changed in any way from those applied to them before the entry into force of Brexit. 

“Consequently, carriers who are nationals of the United Kingdom can continue to benefit from the system of prior declaration and network authorisations, and the authorisations and permits issued to them before the end of 2020 are valid until their expiry date.”

The ministry said the “TE decree of May 4, 2006 will soon be made consistent”, meaning that a 2006 law preventing hauliers based in non-EU countries from benefiting from ‘roaming permits’ would be adjusted to be consistent with the recognition of the rights of UK-based hauliers – whose rights are said to be protected under the UK’s Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) with the EU.

 Marshall confirmed that her understanding of the communiqué was that the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs was informing civil servants who work on abnormal load permits “that the regime applying to UK hauliers in respect of roam permits shall remain the same as it was before Brexit and that the permits issued before the end of 2020 shall remain valid until date of expiry” – which was what she had been arguing for.

The French Category 1 and 2 roaming permits cover loads of up to 25 metres in length, four metres in width, 4.50 metres in height and a maximum weight of 48 tonnes and are normally valid for a three-year period and exempt carriers from having to apply for route-specific permits that can take between four and eight weeks to obtain. 

February decision reversed

Lloyd’s Loading List reported earlier this month that the ‘roaming permits’ that allow UK abnormal load hauliers to operate in France had been rendered invalid by France following Britain’s exit from the EU’s rules since 1 January, despite warnings to the UK government and associations that the issue needed to be addressed.

On 8 February, France said the roaming permits were no longer valid for UK-registered hauliers, leaving some continuing to operate without any awareness that they were doing so illegally. Marshall’s company, Convoi Exceptionnel, noted that roaming permits were still being issued to UK hauliers by the French local authority départements as recently as the first week of February. 

Convoi Exceptionnel received confirmation from the Department for Transport (DfT)’s Future EU Roads Relationship team on 9 February that they were “aware of the issue” of about French roaming permits for abnormal loads “and have raised this with the French authorities as a matter of urgency”, confirming on 21 February that the department was continuing to pursue the issue, noting: “Our position is that the UK/EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) provides for non-discriminatory access of AILs and hence UK’s continued inclusion in the previous operating arrangements”.

Following accusations that UK had failed to secure this aspect of UK hauliers’ rights with the EU in the TCA, the DfT stated that the department did not believe the non-negotiation by the UK with the French government of a specific arrangement to maintain access to the system was the cause of the problem. An official added: “During the TCA negotiations, EU Member States recognised competence rested with the European Commission and were not generally open to direct negotiations with UK government. However, if the French government is amenable to a discussion now about, say, a technical protocol, we would be very happy to do that now the process of TCA negotiations with the EU as a whole is complete.”

Concerns about lost business

John Dyne, who heads Dyne Solicitors, specialists in regulatory law in road transport and the environment, had expressed concerns last month that with UK operators no longer having access to the roaming permit system, “they will have to apply for route-specific permits and this can take between four and six weeks (to obtain) – and that is assuming the French civil service will be able to cope with the sudden influx of permit applications.”

He said the fear for UK abnormal load operators was that they would lose business to French or other EU competitors that could still access loads without a route-specific permit – and also to Swiss operators, thanks to a France-Switzerland bilateral deal. But Dyne had expressed confidence last month that the DfT would be able to resolve the problems – something that they now appear to have done.

Marshall praised the efforts of the HTA to bring the attention of the DfT to the matter, which led to a meeting two weeks ago between DfT and industry representatives – in which it was explained that UK hauliers were continuing operating in France in order to fulfil their contracts, either doing so illegally, for having to pay unsustainably large fees, for example in order to be allowed to transport loads on France’s motorways. She also praised civil servants for their role in resolving the matter.

Although there have been some fines issued for non-compliance, and some temporary loss of business due to the brief loss of roaming permits for UK operators, Marshall believes that the resolution of the matter means that no major long-term damage has been done to UK operators or businesses. She said her understanding was that UK-based hauliers could now continue to maintain their rights to access roaming permits in the long term, with no time limit associated with that.