Alcohol Regulations - Updates
23rd June, 2009
Howard Pridding, Executive Director of the British Marine
Federation and Gus Lewis, RYA Legal and Government Affairs Manager
continue to work hard on behalf of boaters and the businesses that
support them on this issue
Blood-alcohol limits for non-professional (recreational) boaters
were introduced by Section 80 of the Railways and Transport Safety
Act 2003, although at present this Section is not in force.
The DfT has confirmed that it now wishes to bring Section 80 in to
force, subject to certain exemptions, and is in the process of
producing draft Regulations to effect this.
The BMF has recently submitted its response to the DfT's
consultation on the matter. In it is a robust argument for better
consideration of the economic impact such regulation will have on
the industry and calls on the Government to use proportionality
when implementing its new regulatory obligations.
Going Forward, both Howard and Gus are pursuing a meeting with
the new Minister for Shipping in the next few weeks to discuss the
issues raised in the consultation. This section will be updated
with any outcomes from that meeting.