The Road Transport (Passenger Vehicles Cabotage) Regulations 1999

• Citation: S.I. 1999/3413
• Sections: 10

Section 1 Commencement, citation and interpretation

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Road Transport (Passenger Vehicles Cabotage) Regulations 1999 and shall come into force on 28th January 2000.

(2) In these Regulations—

“the Council Regulation" means Council Regulation (EC) No. 12/98 of 11 December 1997 laying down the conditions under which non-resident carriers may operate national road passenger transport services within a member State ;

“the 1981 Act" means the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 ;

“Community carrier" means a road passenger transport carrier established in a member state of the European Community other than the United Kingdom;

“road" has the meaning given in section 192(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 ;

“traffic commissioner" has the meaning given in section 4 of the 1981 Act;

“UK cabotage operations" means cabotage transport operations in Great Britain or between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Section 2 Extent

These Regulations apply in Great Britain.

Section 3 Cabotage without a Community licence

(1) A person commits an offence if he uses a vehicle on a road, or causes or permits a vehicle to be so used, for the purpose of UK cabotage operations which are carried out by a Community carrier without a valid Community licence.

(2) A person who is guilty of an offence under paragraph (1) above shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

Section 4 Use of a vehicle in Great Britain without a control document

(1) A person commits an offence if he uses a vehicle on a road, or causes or permits a vehicle to be so used, for the purposes of UK cabotage operations which—

(a) take the form of occasional services in Great Britain or between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and

(b) are carried out in contravention of Article 6(1) of the Council Regulation.

(2) A person who is guilty of an offence under paragraph (1) above shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

Section 5 Competent Authorities in Great Britain

(1) For the purposes of Article 11(4) of the Council Regulation the competent authority of the member State of establishment shall be the traffic commissioner for the area in which the carrier has his operating centre (“the appropriate traffic commissioner").

(2) For the purposes of Articles 7, 9 and 11(2) and (3) of the Council Regulation the competent authority of the member State of establishment shall be the Secretary of State.

Section 6 Appeals

(1) A carrier who is aggrieved by an administrative penalty imposed on him by the Secretary of State under Article 11(2) of the Council Regulation may request the Secretary of State to review that decision.

(2) A carrier who is aggrieved by an administrative penalty imposed on him by the appropriate traffic commissioner under Article 11(4) of the Council Regulation may appeal to the Transport Tribunal.

Section 7 Production of documents

(1) The driver of a vehicle which is required, under Article 5 of the Council Regulation, to have on board a Community licence commits an offence if he fails, without reasonable cause, to produce the licence when requested to do so by an authorised inspecting officer.

(2) References in paragraph (1) above to a Community licence include references to a certified true copy of a licence.

(3) The driver of a vehicle which is required, under Article 6(1) of the Council Regulation, to have on board a control document commits an offence if he fails, without reasonable cause, to produce the control document when requested to do so by an authorised inspecting officer.

(4) A person who is guilty of an offence under paragraph (1) or (3) above is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

Section 8 Authorised inspecting officers

Authorised inspecting officers for the purposes of the Council Regulation shall in Great Britain be constables in uniform, and examiners appointed under section 66A of the Road Traffic Act 1988.

Section 9 Bodies corporate

(1) Where an offence under these Regulations has been committed by a body corporate and it is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

(2) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, paragraph (1) above shall apply in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate.

(3) Where an offence under these Regulations has been committed by a Scottish partnership and is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of a partner, he as well as the partnership shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Section 10 Modification of certain enactments and of the Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness, Equipment Use and Certification) Regulations 1981

(1) The Road Traffic (Foreign Vehicles) Act 1972 shall be amended as follows—

(a) In Schedule 1, at the end, there shall be inserted—

(b) In Schedule 2, at the end, there shall be inserted—

(2) The provisions of the 1981 Act shall have effect, in relation to a vehicle being used to carry out cabotage transport operations, as if sections 6, 12 and 18 were omitted.

(3) In section 65(1) of the 1981 Act after paragraph (a) there shall be inserted the following paragraph:

(ea) a control document issued under Article 6 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 12/98 of 11 December 1997;

(4) In section 66 of the 1981 Act, the word “or" at the end of paragraph (d) shall be omitted and after paragraph (e) there shall be inserted

or;

(f) obtaining the issue of a control document under article 6 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 12/98 of 11 December 1997;

(5) In paragraph 9 of Schedule 4 to the Transport Act 1985 after the words “or this Act" there shall be inserted “ or under the Road Transport (Passenger Vehicles Cabotage) Regulations 1999. ”

(6) None of the provisions of Parts II, III, IV and V of the Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness, Equipment, Use and Certification) Regulations 1981 shall have effect in relation to a vehicle which is carrying out a cabotage transport operation in Great Britain in accordance with the Council Regulation.