IRU’s Goods Transport Council today unanimously adopted a Resolution targeting the prevention and penalisation of fraudulent activities in the road freight transport sector.

Geneva - The IRU’s Goods transport Council (CTM) today unanimously adopted a Resolution on the fight against fraud in the road freight transport aiming to reduce opportunities for dishonest shippers and intermediaries, involved in often long chains of transport orders, to misuse the present difficult market conditions to abuse transport operators.

The CTM President and IRU Vice President, Pere Padrosa, said, “There are obviously legal tools to remedy a fraud after it has occurred but usually, such juridical procedures do not achieve satisfactory results. For this reason, by far the most effective defence against fraud is prevention.”

In order to avoid the dramatic consequences of fraudulent behaviour, the IRU Resolution recommends to transport operators to examine all suspicious circumstances of transport orders, carefully check the identity of the “shipper” and report any anomalies to their national road transport association or, in justified cases, to the police and other competent authorities.

The IRU Resolution urges national road transport associations to draw the attention of their member operators to the real dangers of fraud, to impose sanctions if fraud is committed by their own members and to reinforce solidarity and cooperation among their constituents to fight defrauders.

Finally, the IRU Resolution calls upon competent national authorities, police and courts to investigate all suspicious cases reported, do everything possible to punish defrauders and prevent the “escalation of cases” in a series of repeated frauds by cooperating with Interpol in case of transnational organised crime and create legal precedents in order to dissuade further criminality.

* * *

Press Office

International Road Transport Union (IRU)

3, rue de Varembé / B.P. 44

CH-1211 Geneva 20

Switzerland

Tel: +41 22 918 27 07

Fax: + 41 22 918 27 41

Mailto: Press@iru.org

Web: www.iru.org