The majority of the North's 700 filling stations are selling illegal petrol and diesel supplied by cross Border fuel smugglers according to a new report from the British National Audit Office.
The United Kingdom watchdog believes that up to 450 filling stations in Northern Ireland are regularly selling smuggled fuel while between 200 to 250 trade only in illegal fuel all year round.
The National Audit Office claims fuel smuggling and the loss of revenue from motorists who legitimately travel from the North to fill up in fuel in the Republic is now costing the British Exchequer £380 million sterling each year. The report draws attention to the huge disparity in fuel prices between the North and the Republic. A motorist is likely to pay up to 40 per cent more for their fuel if they purchase it in Newry compared to buying their fuel in Co Louth. Lower fuel duties in the Republic means that diesel, which is most often smuggled is currently around 29 pence a litre cheaper than it is in Northern Ireland.
The price disparity poses a huge problem for border retailers in the North and has led to a huge number of them going out of business. Yesterday, Mr Noel Smyth of the Northern Ireland Petrol Retailers Association said the British Government must take notice of the latest National Audit Office report.
The profit on smuggled petrol and diesel can be in the region of 10 pence to 15 pence per litre, which is more than five times the profit from legal fuel. The rise in smuggled fuel has also coincided with an increase in the number of "laundering" plants in Northern Ireland according to the National Audit Office.
These are plants where "red diesel" which is largely used for agricultural purposes and which is illegal to use in road vehicles is treated to resemble a normal diesel colour; this is then sold on to filling stations and individuals.
Mr Paul Boateng, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said there has been a drastic increase in the number of customs officers now assigned to investigating illegal fuel smuggling. Since April 2000 around 160 custom officers have been assigned to the problem compared to just 25 in previous years.
Mr Boateng said this strategy is already showing results.
"This has resulted in twice as much fuel and three times as many vehicles being seized in Northern Ireland. "Customs also broke up 17 commercial organisations involved in illegally removing the dye which identifies rebated fuels, like red diesel, as not being for on-road use," Mr Boateng said.
