Policy & Compliance
B IFA has been contacted by the trading Readers will be used to reading about thefts from vehicles, which are all too common for whatever reason. However, recently BIFA has been contacted regarding a different type of crime. As we all know fly-tipping is a problem – and a growing one as well – but a new variation is the use of old trailers to perpetrate the crime. Two local councils have contacted the Association for Member details in the line of their enquiries and in both cases the reason was the same. Members had legitimately disposed of old trailers, which they had no further need for, in both cases at auctions. Following the sales, the old trailers were filled with rubbish and abandoned – fly-tipping on an industrial scale. standards teams from two town councils regarding an unusual type of vehicle crime. Councils, and thus the local council taxpayer, are faced with a considerable bill to remove a trailer and the load, which often contains difficult to dispose of hazardous materials and chemicals. In each of the cases known to BIFA, the local councils had established the original owner of the trailers via the chassis numbers and acknowledged that the BIFA Member was not connected to the fly- tipping. However, they wanted to contact them for information regarding how they had disposed of the units and to whom, in an effort to track down the criminal gangs involved in what is organised crime. When Members dispose of any assets, given the above example, some form of record needs to be retained of the disposal. There are wider implications, dependent upon the nature of the asset, to consider, for example physical IT equipment will have to have the data sanitised. Also, equipment will need to be disposed of in a manner that complies with environmental controls and the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. Given increased environmental legislation and the emphasis on disposal of assets to prevent environmental harm, Members would be advised to consider the correct method and what records should be kept to ensure regulatory compliance. Criminal fl y-tippers have been using legitimately sold trailers to dump waste A different type of vehicle crime
Parking facilities One of the chief reasons for these thefts is the lack and quality of parking facilities. Poor facilities and incidents where violence is used against the driver are contributors to wider issues relating to driver welfare. These then have knock-on impacts on recruitment of new personnel and retention of existing staff. The general view is that freight crime has increased across the whole of the UK and the lack of proper security measures means that cargo is a relatively easy target. For whatever reason, the police do not devote the resources that trade believes are necessary to solving cargo crime. Many believe that police regard such theft as a victimless crime and do not treat it as seriously as it should be – in many instances, when reported a case number is issued and that is about the extent of the investigation. In certain ways business, with some government support, is already taking the lead in resolving some of the problems. The Department for Transport Lorry Parking Scheme is a step in the right direction to addressing the problem. This initiative, stemming from joint work between the department and business, has seen £52.5 million matched funding invested into upgrading facilities at existing truck stops. Thieves are becoming ever more sophisticated – whilst the old “can you deliver around the corner” still catches out the unwary, BIFA has been advised of a rising number of cases where criminals forged documents or set up fake domains and websites, pretending to be legitimate carriers as a method to steal cargo. The push toward the use of digital services is thought to make certain types of crime easier, because at some locations there is less vetting of carriers collecting cargo. Limited knowledge At BIFA we have noted reports from Members that some importers and/or exporters seem to have very limited knowledge as to what they are buying and of the company that they are buying from. Whilst forwarders are not trade policemen, crime does cause them problems, particularly with regard to obtaining payment and also for under-declared values on import DDP consignments. In cases where HMRC cannot locate the trader, because it has acted as an indirect Customs agent, the BIFA Member has to pay the additional taxes (scan the QR code to read the BIFA Good Practice Guide Appointment and Responsibilities of a Customs Agent for further information). Global problems disrupting supply chains and increasing costs at the time of writing are not lessening; in fact some argue that ever higher freight rates are making the situation worse. Many argue that the best steps to take to minimise a company’s exposure to such risks are to ensure that it has effective due diligence procedures in place to screen clients – ‘know your customer’ – and individual consignments. In addition, security procedures should be reviewed to limit opportunities for theft and deception at all stages of the journey.
“ Many argue that the best steps to take to minimise a company’s exposure to such risks are to ensure that it has effective due diligence procedures in place to
screen clients
BIFA Good Practice Guide
www.bifa.org
August 2024 | 13
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