The Northern Ireland Assembly has unanimously called on the British government to take measures to reduce the impact of high fuel costs.
The resolution called on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to encourage other EU states to bring their tax on fuel into line with neighbouring countries in order to permit fair competition and discourage smuggling.
Proposing the motion, Mr Roy Beggs (UUP) said devolved governments in Scotland and Wales should pass similar motions.
This would put political pressure on backbenchers at Westminster and, eventually, the British government.
Mr Beggs said 75 per cent of pump prices was claimed back in tax.
"Is it any wonder that the electorate does not believe Mr Blair when he tried to blame others for the high price of fuel?" he asked.
The North's border with the Republic presented an extra problem for business, he said. High prices were distorting trade and encouraging cross-Border smuggling. In tandem with far higher vehicle excise duties in the Republic, fuel prices were forcing Northern Ireland hauliers out of business, he said. "This has no environmental gains and simply exports jobs and businesses."
Mr Beggs added that by causing as much as 250 million tonnes of fuel to be driven into the North, the price differential was having a detrimental impact on the environment.
Reading from a report published in July by the Westminster Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, he noted that MPs had said that "besides distorting trade patterns it seems to have become a means of funding for paramilitaries and racketeers. It is, therefore, damaging the social fabric of Northern Ireland".
Mr Nigel Dodds (DUP, North Belfast) said: "The real villain is the taxman. Three-quarters of the price of a litre of fuel is handed over to the Treasury."
The First Minister, Mr David Trimble, noted media reports that the Chancellor was considering extending rebate schemes to hauliers and said he would want such measures extended to the North.
As the debate went on inside the house, a group of hauliers and farmers with some 30 lorries and tractors protested in the grounds of Stormont.