French media are predicting the implementation of a new ecotax will be postponed to January 2014. They are expecting this to be confirmed following a meeting between the Minister of Transport and Ecomouv, the company mandated to collect the ecotax.
According to French national newspaper Le Figaro this week, only 10,000 trucks have been kitted out with the new ecotax ‘boxes’ to-date due to strong resistance from logistics service providers and their customers.
The French Government had expected that 100,000-120,000 trucks should have been equipped by end August, it observed.
The new tax was to come into effect on 1 October this year and it is applicable to all good vehicles over 3.5 tones using free motorways, national highways and some local roads in France.
Cost
Speaking from Paris, Bord Bia‘s Noreen Lanigan noted the likely postponement and that the new tax when introduced will have huge implications for Ireland’s export market in terms of the increased cost of logistics but that Ireland will not be at a disadvantage as the tax affects all countries.
“It will increase the cost of logistics for products exporting from Ireland and products transporting through France. It will impact all European food producers not just Ireland. It will also affect the French industry in terms of its domestic and export market.”
She noted France is one of Ireland’s top export markets in the world, in terms of beef and lamb, dairy and dairy ingredients and beverages. “France is a very important market for Ireland’s agri-food exports.”
Click for  an outline of Bord Bia French Exports 2012.
