STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

S.I. No. 374 of 2001

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (MECHANICALLY PROPELLED VEHICLE ENTRY INTO SERVICE) REGULATIONS, 2001

Dublin

Published by the Government Supplies Agency

S.I. No. 374 of 2001

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (MECHANICALLY PROPELLED VEHICLE ENTRY INTO SERVICE) REGULATIONS, 2001.

In exercise of the powers conferred on the Minister for the Environment and Local Government by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 ( No. 27 of 1972 ) which said powers are delegated to me by the Environment and Local Government (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order, 1997 ( S.I. No. 427 of 1997 ) and for the purposes of giving effect to Council Directive 1999/96/EC¹ , Commission Directive 1999/101/EC² , Commission Directive 1999/102/EC³ , Commission Directive 2001/1/EC⁴ and Commission Directive 2001/27/EC⁵ as they relate to the entry into service of mechanically propelled vehicles, I, Robert Molloy, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government hereby make the following Regulations:

1.   (1)   These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Mechanically Propelled Vehicle Entry into Service) Regulations, 2001.

(2)   These Regulations shall come into effect on the 1^st. day of October 2001.

(3)   The European Communities (Mechanically Propelled Vehicle Entry into Service) (Amendment) Regulations, 2000. ( S.I. NO. 444 of 2000 ) shall cease to have effect on the coming into effect of these Regulations.

2.   (1)   In these Regulations:-

“authorised person” means a person authorised by the Minister to request the production of a separate certificate of conformity, or an officer of the Revenue Commissioners authorised under section 159 of the Finance Act, 1997 ;

“category M₂” means a category of mechanically propelled vehicles used for the carriage of passengers and comprising more than eight seats excluding the driver's seat, and having a maximum weight not exceeding 5 tonnes;

“category M₃” means a category of mechanically propelled vehicles used for the carriage of passengers comprising more than eight seats excluding the driver's seat, and having a maximum weight exceeding 5 tonnes;

“category N₁” means a category of mechanically propelled vehicles used for the carriage of goods or burden of other description and having a maximum weight not exceeding 3.5 tonnes;

“category N₂” means a category of mechanically propelled vehicles used for the carriage of goods or burden of other description and having a maximum weight exceeding 3.5 tonnes but not exceeding 12 tonnes;

“category N₃” means a category of mechanically propelled vehicles used for the carriage of goods or burden of other description and having a maximum weight exceeding 12 tonnes;

“category S” means a category of special purpose vehicles as defined in Annex II.A.5 of Council Directive 70/156/EEC² as amended by Council Directive 98/14/EC³ and which together with ambulances, armoured vehicles, motor caravans and hearses, includes vehicles specially modified to accommodate at least one person in a wheelchair;

“distributor” has the meaning assigned to it by Regulation 4 of the Vehicle Registration and Taxation Regulations, 1992 ( S.I. No. 318 of 1992 );

“end of series vehicle” means a vehicle which is accompanied by at least one separate certificate of conformity in respect of a Directive for which the certificate is no longer valid by reason of an amendment to that Directive;

“mechanically propelled vehicle” means a vehicle (with or without bodywork) propelled by either a positive ignition engine or a compression ignition engine, having at least four wheels and a maximum design speed exceeding 25 kilometres per hour, and which is intended for use on the road.

“Minister” means the Minister for the Environment and Local Government.

“maximum weight” of a vehicle means the weight executed by the technically permissible maximum laden mass as declared by the vehicle manufacturer.

“new vehicle” means a mechanically propelled vehicle which is less than 3 months old when reckoned from its first entry into service or which has travelled less than 3,000 kilometres or which has not been previously registered;

“separate certificate of conformity” means a certificate which has been completed in accordance with article 5;

“short form of the certificate of conformity” means that part of the declaration for registration of a new mechanically propelled vehicle, in the form prescribed from time to time by the Revenue Commissioners and which includes the reference number “gv/2001/VTA”;

“tonne” is the weight executed by a mass of 1,000kg.

(2) In these Regulations -

(a)   any reference to an article or a schedule which is not otherwise identified is a reference to an article or a schedule of these Regulations.

(b)   any reference to a sub-article which is not otherwise identified is a reference to a sub-article of the provision in which the reference occurs.

(c)   except for a word or phrase defined in sub-section (1), or where otherwise indicated, a word or phrase to which a meaning has been assigned by a Directive specified in the Regulations has that meaning.

3.   These Regulations apply only to new vehicles in categories M₂, M₃, N₁, N₂, N₃ and S equipped with either positive ignition or compression ignition engines and of which at least 500 units will be manufactured, other than such vehicles which are intended for use by the armed services, civil defence, fire services or forces responsible for maintaining public order.

4.   In respect of each new vehicle for which a declaration for registration will be made to the Revenue Commissioners, the manufacturer or distributor of the vehicle shall -

(a)    complete and retain separate certificates of conformity completed in accordance with article 5, and

(b)    complete and issue to the owner, the short form of the certificate of conformity.

(c)    in the case of a vehicle which is to be modified, complete and retain each separate certificate of conformity and issue to the converter a short form of each separate certificate of conformity for onward transfer to the owner of the vehicle.

5.  (1)    A separate certificate of conformity shall -

(a)  be issued in respect of each directive specified in the second column of the Second Schedule,

(b)  be in the form set out in the First Schedule,

(c)  be printed on paper protected by coloured graphics or watermarked with the vehicle Manufacturer's identification mark, in accordance with article 6(1) of Council Directive 70/156/EEC as amended by Council Directive 98/14/EC, and

(d)  not be issued unless the vehicle to which it relates conforms to a type for which a type approval certificate in accordance with the directive referred to in the certificate of conformity has been issued.

(2)   A separate certificate of conformity in respect of a vehicle shall cease to be valid upon the coming into force of an amendment to the directive in respect of which it had been issued, where such amendment relates to the requirements for the type approval of the vehicle type which includes the said vehicle.

6.   The short form of the certificate of conformity shall not be issued by the manufacturer or the distributor in respect of a vehicle unless each of the separate certificates of conformity has been issued in accordance with article 5, provided always that no such separate certificate will have ceased to be valid at the date of issue of the said short form of the certificate of conformity.

7.   (1)   Subject to sub-article (4), the Minister may grant an application from a manufacturer or distributor to exempt a new vehicle from the requirements of article 5 for a period of 12 months from the day on which any amendment to the Second Schedule has come into force.

(2)   Subject to sub-article (3), the maximum number of vehicles for which the Minister may grant exemptions in accordance with sub-article (1) shall be the greater of either -

(a)    the number of vehicles equivalent to 30% of the vehicles of all types concerned which were registered by the Revenue Commissioners in the 12 months which ended on the day immediately before the coming into force of the amended schedule or schedules, or

(b)    in the case of vehicles of any one type, the number of such vehicles for which a valid certificate of conformity could have been prepared for issue by the distributor on a day not less than 3 months before the coming into force of the said amended Schedule,

(3)   Where the application of paragraph 2(a) would result in exemption for less than 100 vehicles, the Minister may grant exemptions for up to 100 vehicles.

(4)   This article shall apply only to vehicles -

(a)    which were in the territory of the European Communities, on the day on which the Second Schedule or an amendment thereto comes into effect, and

(b)    are accompanied by a certificate of conformity which had ceased to be valid solely because of the provisions of these Regulations,

8.   The application for the exemption shall be made in writing to the Minister by the manufacturer of the vehicle or the distributor and shall contain -

(a)    details of the type of vehicle to which the application relates,

(b)    the certificate of conformity, in accordance with the Second Schedule in force immediately prior to the amendment that invalidated that certificate, for the vehicle,

(c)    the vehicle identification number of the vehicle for which the exemption is sought,

(d)    the number of vehicles of that type which were first registered in the 12 month period ending on the day prior to the day from which the amendment applies,

(e)    any other information which the Minister may require to be submitted in order to consider the application.

9.  (1)    At any reasonable time or place an authorised person may request the manufacturer or the distributor to any separate one or more of the certificates of conformity in respect of a vehicle for which the short form of the whole vehicle certificate of conformity has been declared to the Revenue Commissioners

(2)   Failure to comply with sub-article 1 shall be an offence.

(3)   It shall be an offence for any person to produce a false certificate of conformity or false short form of certificate of conformity.

(4)   A person convicted of an offence under sub-article (2) or (3) of this article shall be liable on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,000, or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding twelve months or, at the discretion of the court, to both such fine and such imprisonment.

(5)   An offence under these Regulations may be prosecuted by the Minister, by an authorised person, or by a member of the Garda Siochana.

FIRST SCHEDULE

Form of Certificate of Conformity by Manufacturer or Distributor

SECOND SCHEDULE

Directives for which separate certificates of conformity must be issued.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation)

These Regulations require that applications to the Revenue Commissioners for the registration of certain new vehicles must include a short form of a certificate of conformity with specified EU Directives. Certain exemptions are provided for in the Regulations.

¹ O.J. No. L44 of 16 .02 .2000

² O.J. No. L334/41 of 28.12.1999

³ O.J. No. L334/43 of 28.12.1999

⁴ O.J. No. L335/34 of 6.2.2001

⁵O.J. No. L107/10 of 18.04.2001

² OJ No L 42 of 23.02.1970

³ OJ No L 91/1 of 25.03.1998