Travel Restrictions on International Music Tours to Be Facilitated
Based on the rules imposed previously by authorities in Britain, UK specialist hauliers have been limited to three European Union stops per tour since the transition period of Brexit. However, they will be eligible to travel freely between the UK and other countries starting from this summer, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
According to the Department for Transport, the new law will apply to haulage companies with a base in Britain and another in other countries, meaning that they will be eligible to transfer their vehicle between both operator licenses without being obliged to change vehicles or have their journeys limited, as reported by local media.
In addition, authorities in the UK have confirmed that they will also be exempted from the requirement to pay Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) in the UK for six months.
Despite the fact that the new rules have been welcomed by a large number of people, some industry experts said they did not solve the problem for all persons, according to a BBC report.
In this regard, Wob Roberts, production manager for Duran Duran and Sam Smith, has said that the move was good news for the UK as well as European tours; however, it did not help British-based operations that did not have another base in other countries.
“After Brexit, cabotage rules kicked in, meaning British hauliers could only make two drops or three if they jumped through some more hoops. So, what the bigger companies did, at great cost to themselves, was to open a new branch in Europe with European registered trucks and European licensed drivers,” Roberts pointed out, as reported by BBC.
He said these new rules mean that there is no limit on drops for Britain vehicles in Europe and vice versa
“This will help British-based tours keep going. But the problem is the smaller operations that couldn’t afford to set up a European arm are still going to be facing the same issues,” Roberts has stressed.
The recent changes applied by the UK’s government have been considered important progress for the country by the industry group UK Music.
However, according to the report published by BBC, Chief Executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin has said that there were still issues around the transport of goods as well as passengers.
