S.I. No. 443/2000 - European Communities (Passenger Car Entry Into Service) Regulations, 2000.

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 98/14/EC¹ , Council Directive 98/77/EC² , Council Directive 98/69/EC³ , Council Directive 1999/100/EC⁴ , Council Directive 1999/101/EC⁵ , and Council Directive 1999/102/EC⁶ , 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. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Passenger Car Entry into Service) Regulations, 2000.

2. (1) In these Regulations—

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

“category M¹ ” means the category of mechanically propelled vehicles used for the carriage of passengers and comprising not more than eight seats excluding the driver's seat;

“category S” means the category of special purpose vehicles as defined in Annex II.A.5 of Directive 70/156/EEC as amended by Council Directive 98/14/EC together with ambulances armoured vehicles, camper vans and hearses, and 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a vehicle which is accompanied by a certificate of conformity with a particular Directive, for which the certificate is no longer valid by reason of an amendment to that Directive;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;

“multi-purpose vehicle” means a vehicle, which in accordance with the provisions of Annex II C of Council Directive 70/156/EEC⁷ as amended by Council Directive 98/14/EC is designed to carry a greater weight of goods than passengers,

“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 sub-article (2) of article 5 in the form set out in the Third Schedule in respect of a separate Directive;

“separate Directive” means one of the Directives specified in the Second Schedule;

“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, which contains the particulars of the vehicle and the reference number of the Directive in accordance with which the manufacturer or distributor issued the whole vehicle certificate of conformity in respect of the vehicle;

“single vehicle” means a vehicle which is one of a kind by virtue of having been built by or specifically for the owner, to a plan which is the property of the owner, or a vehicle which is deemed to be a new vehicle for the sole reason that a new body shell has been substituted for a damaged or defective one in the course of maintenance or repair;

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

“whole vehicle certificate of conformity” means the certificate which has been completed in accordance with article 6 of Council Directive 92/53/EEC⁸ in the form set out in Annex IX of that Directive as amended by Council directive 98/14/EC;

(2) In these Regulations—

(a) any reference to an article or a schedule which is not otherwise identified is 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 the 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 referred to in these Regulations has that meaning.

3. These Regulations apply only to new vehicles in the category M1 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—

(a) in the category S,

(b) single vehicles,

(c) multi-purpose vehicles,

(d) vehicles intended for use by the armed services, civil defence, fire services or forces responsible for maintaining public order.

4. Subject to article 5, 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 a whole vehicle certificate of conformity,

(b) complete and issue to the owner of the vehicle the short form of such whole vehicle certificate of conformity.

5. (1) A whole vehicle certificate of conformity shall be valid if and only if,

(a) it is printed on paper which is protected by coloured graphics or is watermarked with the identification mark of the vehicle manufacturer, in accordance with article 6(1) of Council Directive 70/156/EEC as amended by Council Directive 98/14/EC

(b) (i) it is issued in respect of a Directive specified in the first column of the First Schedule on or after the day specified in the second column of the First Schedule in respect of that Directive, or

(ii) it is issued in respect of a Directive that amends a Directive specified in the first column of the First Schedule before the amending Directive is transposed into Irish law, and

(c) (i) it is issued on or after the day or days on which separate valid certificates of conformity had already been issued in respect of each Directive specified in the second column of the Second Schedule, or

(ii) it was issued in respect of a Directive that amends a Directive specified in the second column of the Second Schedule before the amending Directive is transposed into Irish law,

(2) A separate certificate of conformity shall be valid if, and only if,

(a) it is printed on paper which is protected by coloured graphics or watermarked with the identification mark of the vehicle manufacturer, in accordance with article 6(1) of Council Directive 70/156/EEC as amended by Council Directive 98/14/EEC,

(b) (i) it was issued on or after the day specified in the second column of the Second Schedule in respect of the corresponding separate Directive specified in the first column of the same Schedule, or

(ii) it was issued in respect of a Directive that amends a Directive specified in the second column of the Second Schedule before the amending Directive it transposed into Irish law,

6. (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 of which any amendment to the First or the Second Schedules 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 10% 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 or Schedules,

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

(4) This article shall apply only to vehicles—

(a) which were in the territory of the European communities, and

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

7. 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.

8. (1) At any reasonable time or place an authorised person may request the manufacturer or the distributor to produce the whole vehicle certificate of conformity or 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 Síochána.

9. The European Communities (Mechanically Propelled Vehicle Entry into Service) Regulations, 1998 ( S.I. No. 211 of 1998 ) as amended by S.I. No. 356 of 1998 are hereby revoked with effect from the 31 day of December 2000—

SCHEDULE 1

Whole Vehicle Type Approval Directive:

SCHEDULE II

SCHEDULE III

Form of Certificate of Conformity by Manufacturer or Distributor

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

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

These Regulations prohibit the first registration of new vehicles from 31 December 2000 unless the details of the vehicles declared to the Revenue Commissioners for registration purposes include a valid Certificate of Conformity, at the discretion of the Revenue Commissioners a valid short form of a certificate of conformity, or an end-of-series exemption. Certain exemptions are provided for on the Regulations.

¹ OJ No. L. 91/1 of 25.3.98

² OJ No. L. 286/34 of 23.10.98

³ OJ No. L. 350/5 of 28.12.98

⁴ OJ No. L. 334/36 of 28.12.99

⁵ OJ No. L. 334/41 of 28.12.99

⁶ OJ No. L. 334/43 of 28.12.99

¹ OJ No. L. 91/1 of 25.3.98

⁷ OJ No. L. 42 of 23.2.70

⁸ OJ No. L. 225/3 of 10.8.92