In the UK, the UK Border Agency (UKBA) is the body responsible for securing the UK borders, controlling migration, managing border control and enforcing immigration and customs regulations.

The UKBA has taken steps to strengthen the borders and has invested in new technology to detect people hiding inside vehicles. Teams of staff carry out checks on freight, along with other various methods, to detect clandestine entrants. However, vehicle operators are also expected to have effective systems in place to prevent people hiding in or on their vehicles.

Drivers and haulage companies must protect their vehicles to prevent people from coming into the UK without going through the proper immigration controls. When the vehicle driver or company has no effective system to protect vehicles from being used by clandestine entrants, or if they fail to operate the system properly, the UKBA will impose a fine - known as a civil penalty.

A clandestine entrant is a person who hides in or on a vehicle as it enters the UK, with the aim of avoiding or attempting to avoid immigration controls.

If your vehicle is found to contain clandestine entrants, you may face a fine of up to £2,000 for each entrant you are carrying. The driver of the vehicle, the driver's employer and the owner or hirer of the vehicle can each be fined, and the vehicle in question may be detained.

The law that allows civil penalty fines to be imposed for carrying a clandestine entrant applies to all road vehicles and rail transport, and applies to all arrivals into the UK from all European sea ports and on Eurotunnel. It is designed to encourage hauliers and drivers to take responsibility for protecting and checking their vehicles before crossing into the UK from mainland Europe.

If you find clandestine entrants in or on your vehicle after arrival in the UK, you are urged not to approach them but to contact the local police. The police will take your details and those of your company and inform the UKBA about the clandestine entrants.

If UKBA officers find clandestine entrants in a vehicle at the UK immigration controls at a UK port or a UK Control Zone in mainland European port, they may interview the driver or the company about the security system they were using to prevent people hiding in the vehicle on that day. If the security system is found to be poor, the vehicle driver and/or the company may be subject to a fine. If a fine is imposed, a form IS11 showing the amount of the fine will be sent to those responsible.

Drivers and vehicle operators have a right to object to the Civil Penalty Unit and/or to appeal to any county court against the fine. This must be done within 28 days of the date on which form IS11 was issued. You will also receive guidance on objections and appeals with form IS11.

The UKBA has an accreditation scheme whereby road haulage companies which are accepted onto the scheme and operate in accordance with the scheme will not be fined in the event that clandestine entrants are discovered in or on their vehicles.

To qualify, a company must show that it has an effective preventive system and that it takes all reasonable steps to ensure the system operates properly. Individual drivers cannot apply to join the scheme, but hauliers should provide regular training and monitoring for their drivers.

 

( linda )25 Oct,2011

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