Cross-border delivery of new vehicles by drivers could be banned in a bid to stamp out fraud.

Dealers may be forced to use car transporters as the European Commission tries to stop tax evasion and registration fraud.

The commission is proposing that the delivery-by-driving method of moving new cars should be excluded from the ‘TIR’ (Transports Internationaux Routiers) system for the European Union, which provides simplified customs procedures.

The move follows concerns that the system whereby new vehicles are driven from manufacturers to dealers and on to customers across European borders is leading to tax evasion and fraud.

At present, cars that are being driven across several inter-national borders attract customs duties and inspections only at their destination country.

The commission says that while moving cars by transporter is relatively easy to control, cars being driven to customers risk being diverted on to the black market.

There is a much higher risk of fraud, said the commission, which has led to it proposing banning the movement of unregistered cars by any other means than transporters.

The commission’s proposal follows a similar amendment made last September to the UN Customs Convention on the International Transport of Goods under cover of TIR carnets.