Despite recent reassurance from the Belgian Government over UK yachtsmen not being fined for having red diesel in their tanks (see earlier stories), the Cruising Association has warned that penalties ‘for having red diesel in Belgium is again becoming an issue.’
 
The CA has been told that yachtsmen need to carry a receipt showing that the full duty had been paid on all diesel in their tanks and that the receipt was for fuel bought in the previous 12 months. In the UK many yachtsmen pay only the full duty rate on fuel used for their engines and a lesser rate for fuel used for heating. This would not be acceptable in Belgium.
 
And from October 31, the current practice by Belgian customs officers of ‘turning a blind eye’ to British yachts, will cease and yachtsmen could again be fined if red diesel is found in their tanks’

On Yachting Monthly’s website: www.yachtingmonthly.com/scuttlebutt UK yachtsmen have said they will keep up their boycott of the Flemish ports.