Do you remember when you had to fill in a form before taking your boat across the Channel or the North Sea, giving the passport details of all the crew members? And then had to report in and wait for two hours on return, in case the Customs decided to pay you a visit?
It seemed such a relief when we joined the EU, and could come and go to the continent as we pleased, without having to notify anyone.
But now it seems that precious freedom will be short-lived.
Already yachtsmen crossing from the UK to Holland and Belgium are required to hand in a “Schengen” form on arrival. And apparently we will soon be required to tell the authorities here before we leave and when we return.
e-Borders, a Home Office initiative designed to provide a secure border for the UK, set up to deal with the problem of people entering the country illegally, could introduce new procedures for vessels entering UK harbours.
One of the proposed measures is to revive and update the notification procedure when recreational craft depart from and return to the UK. It will also apply to foreign nationals entering the UK.
“The Immigration Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 introduces the obligation for the UK to acquire passenger, crew and service data. Secondary legislation will support the e-Borders programme in establishing a modernised, intelligence-led border control security framework,” reports the RYA.
The Government is currently consulting on the secondary legislation. You can obtain a copy of the consultation document from the Home Office website www.homeoffice.gov.uk.
The RYA's legal and cruising teams recently met the e-Borders team and will be looking at the legislation and its impact on recreational boating and responding to the consultation.
“It is likely that the proposed legislation is inevitable and we will therefore work with the Government to ensure that it is introduced in a manner that is workable and sensible for our members,” says the RYA.
For more information visit www.rya.org.uk
