S.I. No. 113/1947 - Air Navigation (General Regulations) Order, 1947.

STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS. 1947. No. 113.

AIR NAVIGATION (GENERAL REGULATIONS) ORDER, 1947.

I, SEÁN F. LEMASS, Minister for Industry and Commerce, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 9 of the Air Navigation and Transport Act, 1946 (No. 23 of 1946), hereby order as follows :—

1. This Order may be cited as the Air Navigation (General Regulations) Order, 1947.

2. In these regulations—the expression "the Regulations of 1930" means the Air Navigation ((General) Regulations, 1930 ( S. R. & O. No. 26 of 1930 ), as amended by the Air Navigation (Amendment) Regulations, 1934 ( S. R. & O. No. 245 of 1934 ), the Air Navigation (Amendment) Regulations, 1938 ( S. R. & O. No. 108 of 1938 ), the Air Navigation (Amendment) Regulations, 1939 ( S. R. & O. No. 53 of 1939 ) and the Air Navigation (Amendment) Regulations, 1940 ( S. R. & O. No. 47 of 1940 ).

3. The Regulations of 1930 and any directions given thereunder shall have effect as if set out herein, subject to the following modifications :—

(a) any reference in the said Regulations to the Convention shall be construed as a reference to the Chicago Convention,

(b) the Schedule in the Table to this Order shall be substituted for Schedule IV to the said Regulations and any references in the said Regulations to the Fourth Schedule shall be construed as references to the Schedule in the Table to this Order,

(c) for the words " Annex H of the Convention (which Annex is set out in the Fifth Schedule to these regulations) " in paragraph (b) of Regulation 62 there shall be substituted the following :—

" the Standards and Recommended Practices of the International Civil Aviation Organisation in relation to customs for the time being in force ".

TABLE.

SCHEDULE IV.

CUSTOMS RULES AS TO AIRCRAFT ARRIVING IN OR DEPARTING FROM THE STATE.

Preliminary.

1. For the purposes of this Schedule—

" Importer " has the same meaning as in the Customs Consolidation Act, 1876;

" Commissioners " means the Revenue Commissioners;

" Examination Station " means a space at a Customs Airport approved by the Commissioners as an examination station;

" Customs-free Airport " means an airport established under the Customs-free Airport Act, 1947 (No. 5 of 1947);

" Aircraft Commander " means the person serving on the aircraft having charge or command of its operation and navigation;

" Crew " means and includes any person having duties on board in connection with the flying or the safety of the flight of the aircraft or employed on board, in any way, in the service of the aircraft, passengers, cargo, or stores;

" Airline " means any air transport enterprise offering or operating an international air service;

" Authorized Agent " means a responsible person, who represents an airline, owner, or operator, and who is authorised by such airline, owner, or operator to act on all matters pertaining to the entry and clearance of its aircraft, crew, passengers, cargo, or stores;

" Customs Airport " means any airport designated by the competent authority of a Member State as a port of entry or clearance open to aircraft, crew, passengers, cargo, and stores, where the customs, immigration, or Public Health formalities are carried out;

" Transit crew, Passengers, Cargo, and Stores " means through crew, passengers, cargo, and stores which, while in passage through a Member State, do not move out of a special area prescribed by the Member State concerned;

" Embarkation " means the boarding of an aircraft for the purpose of commencing a flight by crew or passengers, except transit crew or passengers;

" Disembarkation " means the leaving of an aircraft, after a flight, by crew or passengers, except transit crew or passengers;

" Lading " means the placing on board of an aircraft of cargo or stores except transit cargo or stores;

" Unlading " means the removal and discharge from an aircraft, after a flight, of cargo or stores, except transit cargo or stores;

" Cargo " means and includes freight, express, mail, and baggage;

" Stores " means and includes removable aircraft equipment and supplies required in aircraft operations.

Other expressions have the same meaning as in the general provisions of this Order.

2. These Rules shall not apply in respect of aircraft arriving at or departing from the State at a Customs-free airport or in respect of persons or goods carried in such aircraft.

3. The Minister may, subject to the concurrence of the Commissioners and to such conditions as to security and otherwise as the Minister thinks fit, by directions approve airports as " Customs airports " for the purposes of the Acts relating to Customs, and remove airports from the list of Customs airports.

Arrival at Customs Airports from Abroad.

4. An aircraft entering the State from abroad shall not land in the State for the first time in any journey except at a Customs airport; but this rule shall not apply where an aircraft is compelled to land before arriving at a Customs airport owing to accident, stress of weather or unavoidable cause.

5. No person in any aircraft entering the State—

(i) shall carry or allow to be carried in the aircraft any goods the importation of which is prohibited; or

(ii) shall break or alter any seal placed upon any part of the aircraft or upon any goods therein by a Revenue Officer at the airport from which he departed for the State.

6. The commander of an aircraft arriving at a Customs airport from a place outside the State shall, on landing, forthwith take his aircraft to the examination station at that airport, but a commander shall not be deemed to have contravened or failed to comply withthis rule if he proves that circumstances over which he had no control prevented him from taking his aircraft to the examination station and that, after the requirements of rule 7 of this Schedule had been duly complied with, all goods carried in the said aircraft were removed to the examination station in the presence of an Officer of Customs and Excise.

7. Except as provided in rule 12 of this Schedule, on the arrival of an aircraft from a place outside the State the aircraft commander or the authorised agent shall—

(a) deliver to the proper Officer of Customs and Excise—

(i) two copies of the General Declaration;

(ii) in the case of aircraft disembarking passengers, unless the required particulars are furnished in the General declaration, two copies of the Passenger manifest;

(iii) in the case of aircraft unlading cargo, unless the required particulars are furnished in the General Declaration, two copies of the Cargo Manifest, accompanied by two copies of the associated Air Waybill/Consignment Notes; and

(b) truly furnish the several particulars required by such forms; and

(c) deliver to such Officer with such forms a list in duplicate of any stores to be unladen; and

(d) land at such airport for examination of baggage all passengers disembarking from the aircraft; and

(e) produce and, if required to do so, land for examination all goods carried in the aircraft.

If the aircraft is not disembarking passengers or unlading cargo or stores it shall be so stated in the General Declaration.

Arrival at Customs Airports from Airports within the State.

8. On the arrival of an aircraft at a Customs airport from a Customs-free airport within the State the aircraft commander or authorised agent shall on landing comply with rules 6 and 7 of this Schedule.

9. If, at any airport or other place within the State, other than a Customs-free airport, goods or passengers are laden or embarked in an aircraft for conveyance by air to a Customs airport, the aircraft commander or the authorised agent shall obtain from the proprietor of the airport of departure a certificate of departure in the form prescribed by the Minister and the Commissioners and on arriving at the Customs airport shall produce such certificate to the proper Officer of Customs and Excise.

Departure for Abroad from Customs Airports.

10. (1) An aircraft shall not start on a voyage to a place outside the State from any place therein other than a Customs airport.

(2) An aircraft shall not, in the course of such a voyage as aforesaid, land at any place in the State other than a Customs airport or Customs-free airport specified in the General Declaration delivered in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (4) of this rule, unless compelled so to do by reason of accident, stress of weather or unavoidable cause.

(3) An aircraft shall not leave any Customs airport from which it is about to start on such a voyage as aforesaid, unless the aircraft commander or the authorised agent has obtained clearance and authority for the aircraft to proceed from that airport as provided in sub-paragraphs (4) and (5) below.

(4) Where an aircraft is about to start on such a voyage as aforesaid, the aircraft commander or authorised agent shall, before any goods are taken on board,

(a) deliver to the proper Officer of Customs and Excise :—

(i) two copies of the General Declaration,

(ii) in the case of aircraft embarking passengers, unless the required particulars are furnished in the General Declaration, two copies of the Passenger Manifest,

(iii) in the case of aircraft lading cargo, unless the required particulars are furnished in the General Declaration, two copies of the Cargo Manifest; and

(b) truly furnish the several particulars required by such forms; and

(c) deliver to such Officer with such forms a list of any stores to be laden;

and one copy of the General Declaration, when signed by such Officer, shall be the clearance and authority for the aircraft to proceed from that airport.

If the aircraft is not embarking passengers or lading cargo or stores it shall be so stated in the General Declaration.

(5) If an aircraft in the course of such a voyage lands at a Customs airport, the aircraft commander or the authorised agent shall, before the aircraft leaves that airport, deliver to the proper Officer of Customs and Excise at that airport—

(a) the clearance and authority for the aircraft to proceed from the Customs airport which the aircraft last left; and

(b) the documents specified at paragraph (4) of this rule in respect of any goods and stores laden or passengers embarked on the aircraft at the airport at which it has so landed;

and one copy of the General Declaration, furnished under sub-paragraph (b) of this paragraph, when signed by the said Officer, together with the clearance and authority specified at sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph, when countersigned by the said Officer, shall be the clearance and authority for the aircraft to proceed from the airport at which it has so landed, but paragraphs (3) and (4) of this rule shall not apply in respect of aircraft to which rule 12 of this Schedule refers.

Power to Require Translation of Documents.

11. The forms furnished in accordance with rules 7 or 10 of this Schedule shall be in the form prescribed in the Standards and Recommended Practices of the International Civil Aviation Organisation in relation to customs for the time being in force, or in such other form as the Commissioners may direct, and unless the language used therein is Irish or English the aircraft commander or authorised agent shall, if required, provide immediate verbal translation and shall file with the proper Officer of Customs and Excise copies of such documents in Irish or English not later than twenty-four hours after the arrival or departure of the aircraft, as the case may be.

Arrival at and Departure from Customs Airports of Aircraft in Transit.

12. The commander of an aircraft arriving at a Customs airport from abroad and intending to proceed to a destination abroad without unlading or lading cargo, or without disembarking or embarking passengers, or without landing at any other place in the State, shall be exempt from compliance with rule 7 of this Schedule, or with rule 10 of this Schedule in so far as it relates to the delivery of documents to the proper Officer of Customs and Exciseand the obtaining of clearance and authority to proceed, provided he departs with his aircraft for his destination abroad within. twenty-four hours of his arrival.

Importation, Entry and Unlading of Goods.

13. A person importing goods in an aircraft shall not bring the goods into any place in the State other than a Customs airport, or unlade the goods from any aircraft except at an examination station (unless such goods are unladen in the presence of an Officer of Customs and Excise under the provisions of rule 6 of this Schedule), and shall not unlade the goods except between such hours as the Commissioners prescribe, or remove the goods from an examination station unless such goods have been first duly entered as required by rule 15 of this Schedule and produced to the proper Officer of Customs and Excise and duly cleared by him.

14. A person shall not remove from an aircraft any goods imported therein until the requirements of rule 7 of this Schedule have been observed and the authority of the proper Officer of Customs and Excise has been obtained.

15. The importer of any goods imported in aircraft shall deliver to the Collector of Customs and Excise in whose district the airport of importation is situated or, where so permitted by the Commissioners, to the proper Officer of Customs and Excise at such airport, an entry of such goods in accordance with the provisions of the Acts relating to Customs and shall truly furnish thereon the several particulars required by the form of entry and shall pay to such Collector or Officer of Customs and Excise all duties chargeable thereon at the time and in the manner prescribed by the said Acts; but no entry shall be required in respect of the baggage of passengers.

16. All goods imported into a Customs airport in any aircraft shall be duly entered and unladen within seven days from the time of arrival of such aircraft at the airport or within such further period as the Commissioners may allow.

17. All goods imported in aircraft which have not been examined and cleared by the proper Officer of Customs and Excise shall be stored in a transit shed at the Customs airport, and no person shall remove such goods from the transit shed before examination and clearance by such Officer.

Exportation of Goods.

18. (1) The exporter of any goods intended for exportation in aircraft shall deliver to the proper Officer of Customs and Exciseat the Customs airport from which such aircraft is cleared to its destination abroad an entry in the form prescribed by the Commissioners and shall truly state in such form the particulars thereby required; and such form, when signed by the proper Officer of Customs and Excise, shall be the clearance and authority for the exportation of such goods.

(2) A person shall not export any goods in such aircraft until such authority has been given by the proper Officer of Customs and Excise.

19. A person shall not, without the consent of the proper Officer of Customs and Excise, unlade from any aircraft any goods laden therein for exportation which have been cleared under rule 18 of this Schedule, or open, alter or break any lock, mark or seal placed by any Officer of Customs and Excise on any goods laden in any aircraft about to depart from the State.

General.

20. An aircraft shall not enter or leave the State having any secret or disguised place adapted for concealing goods.

21. If any Officer of Customs and Excise in the execution of his duty boards any aircraft in any place, the commander shall not convey him from such place without his consent.

22. (1) If an aircraft arriving from a place outside the State lands in any place other than a Customs airport, the aircraft commander shall, without delay, report the landing to an Officer of Customs and Excise or a member of the Gárda Síochána and shall on demand produce to such Officer or member of the Gárda Síochána the General Declaration of the aircraft and shall not allow any goods to be removed or any passenger or member of the crew to depart from the place of landing without the consent of an Officer of Customs and Excise or a member of the Gárda Síochána, unless such removal or departure is necessary for purposes of health, safety or the preservation of life.

(2) If such place of landing is an airport, the aircraft commander shall forthwith report the landing to the proprietor of the airport, who shall forthwith report the landing of the aircraft to an Officer of Customs and Excise and shall not allow any goods to be removed or any passenger thereof to leave the airport without the consent of such Officer, unless such removal or departure is necessary for health, safety or preservation of life.

(3) If the aircraft commander is unable to report to an Officer of Customs and Excise or a member of the Gárda Síochána after making all reasonable efforts so to do, he may permit the crew and passengers to secure suitable accommodation pending resumption of the flight or continuance of the journey by other means.

(4) No passenger or member of the crew of an aircraft arriving from a place outside the State and landing in any place other than a Customs airport shall depart from the immediate vicinity thereof without the consent of an Officer of Customs and Excise or a member of the Gárda Síochána, unless such departure is necessary for purposes of health, safety or the preservation of life or unless the commander of the aircraft has made unsuccessful efforts to report to an Officer of Customs and Excise or a member of the Gárda Síochána as provided for in paragraph (1) of this Rule.

23. (1) The proprietor of any airport shall at all times permit any Officer of Customs and Excise to enter and inspect his airport and all buildings and goods therein.

(2) An aircraft commander shall permit any Officer of Customs and Excise at any time to board and examine his aircraft and to inspect any documents accompanying the aircraft and to examine crew and passengers and any goods laden therein, and every such Officer shall have the right of access at any time to any place to which access is necessary for the purpose of such examination or inspection.

(3) The importer or exporter of any goods imported or exported in aircraft shall produce such goods to the proper Officer of Customs and Excise at the Customs airport of importation or exportation, as the case may be, and permit him to inspect such goods.

24. (1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this rule the provisions of the Acts relating to Customs, other than these relating to coasting trade, shall, so far as they are applicable and except as they are modified by this Schedule, apply to aircraft, and to goods, mails and persons carried in or landed from aircraft, as they apply to ships and to goods, mails and persons carried in or landed from ships.

(2) The following provisions of the Acts relating to Customs shall not apply to aircraft or goods, mails and persons carried in or landed from aircraft :—

Sections 14, 50, 52, 100, 101, 127 to 129, 134, 136, 175, 179, 181 and 282 of the Customs Consolidation Act, 1876.

Section 6 of the Customs and Inland Revenue Act, 1878,

Sections 5 and 6 of the Revenue Act, 1883,

Sections 2 (1) and 3 of the Revenue Act, 1884,

Sections 1 to 4 of the Customs Consolidation Act, 1876, Amendment Act, 1890,

Section 2 of the Revenue Act, 1898.

(3) The provisions of section 126 of the Customs Consolidation Act, 1876, shall apply to aircraft and stores for the use of aircraft as it applies to ships and stores for the use of ships subject to the following modifications :—

(a) the references in the said section to the master of a ship shall be construed as references to the aircraft commander;

(b) the reference in the said section to the requirements of the Merchant Shipping Acts respecting outward-bound ships shall be construed as a reference to the requirements of these Regulations respecting outward-bound aircraft.

(4) The Commissioners may modify the form of any document prescribed by the Acts relating to Customs so as to make such form applicable to aircraft or the goods carried therein.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 21st day of April, 1947.

(Signed) SEÁN F. LEMASS,

Minister for Industry and Commerce.