European Communities (Merchandise Road Transport) Regulations, 1977.
Statutory Instruments
Source: Statutory Instruments

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paragraphs: These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Merchandise Road Transport) Regulations, 1977.
2 Definitions
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paragraphs: (1) In these Regulations—
"the Minister" means the Minister for Tourism and Transport;
"the Act" means the Road Transport Act, 1933 (No. 8 of 1933);
"certificate of competence" means an international certificate of competence or a national certificate of competence;
"the Council Directive" means Council Directive No. 74/561/EEC of 12 November, 1974 (a);
(a) OJ No. L 308/18 19 November, 1974.
"goods" does not include passengers' luggage or mails but does include anything which is merchandise within the meaning of section 2 of the Act;
"grant" in relation to a merchandise licence includes "transfer";
"national certificate of competence" means a certificate granted under paragraph 1 (i) of Regulation 13 of the Regulations;
"international certificate of competence" means a certificate granted under paragraphs (1) (ii), (2), (3) (a) or (4) of Regulation 13 of these Regulations;
"international road freight certificate" and "national road freight certificate" have the meanings assigned to them respectively by Regulation 5 (1) of the Regulations;
"merchandise" and "merchandise road transport" have the meanings assigned to them, respectively, by section 2 of the Act;
"merchandise licence" has the meaning assigned to it by section 9 of the Act;
"provision (a)", "provision (b)" and "provision (c)" mean, respectively, provision (a), provision (b) and provision (c) of Article 3 of the Council Directive;
"the register" has the meaning assigned to it by Regulation 15;
"road freight certificate" means an international road freight certificate or a national road freight certificate.
(2) These Regulations shall not be construed as applying to a person by reason only of the fact that the person is deemed under section 2 of the Road Transport Act, 1956 (No. 13 of 1956), to be carrying on a road transport business.
(3) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Council Directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the meaning in these Regulations that it has in that Directive.
3 Operators of merchandise road transport business to hold road freight certificates.
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paragraphs: (1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this Regulation, as on and from the 1st day of January, 1978, it shall not be lawful for any person engaged in the occupation of road haulage operator to carry goods unless such person is the holder of—
( a ) in case the goods are being carried from or to a place outside the State, an international road freight certificate,
( b ) in case the goods are being carried from a place within the State to another place within the State, either an international road freight certificate or a national road freight certificate.
(2) The restrictions imposed by paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall not apply where—
( a ) the carriage is in a vehicle or a combination of vehicles (including a trailer or a semi-trailer) which does not exceed 2·5 metric tons unladen weight or which has a permissible maximum total laden weight of not more than 6 metric tons,
( b ) the carriage is within the State and is confined to—
(i) cattle, sheep or pigs,
(ii) turf,
(iii) milk to a creamery or a cream separating station,
(iv) separated milk from a creamery or a cream separating station,
(v) milk containers to or from a creamery or a cream separating station,
( c ) the carriage is within the State and is carriage permitted by section 27 of the Transport Act, 1958 (No. 19 of 1958), or
( d ) the carriage is by means of a lorry or tractor which complies with the conditions specified in section 7 (1) of the Road Transport Act, 1935 (No. 23 of 1935), as amended by section 29 of the Transport Act, 1958 (No. 19 of 1958), and which is used in the course of international transport.
(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2) (b) of this Regulation, 2·5 metric tons unladen weight shall be deemed to be equivalent to 6 metric tons permissible maximum total laden weight.
(4) The requirements of paragraph (1) of this Regulation are in addition to and not in substitution for those of section 9 of the Act.
4 Restrictions on grant or renewal of merchandise licences.
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paragraphs: (1) Where on or after the 1st day of January, 1978, an application is made to the Minister for the grant or renewal of a merchandise licence, the Minister shall only allow the application if the applicant is the holder of a road freight certificate which is for the time being in force.
(2) The provisions of paragraph (1) of this Regulation are in addition to and not in substitution for any requirement of the Act, or any regulation made thereunder which is for the time being in force, which relates to the grant or renewal of merchandise licences.
5 Grant or renewal of road freight certificates.
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paragraphs: (1) ( a ) Subject to the provisions of this Regulation the Minister may grant certificates for the purposes of this Regulation, and any such certificate is in these Regulations referred to as an "international road freight certificate" or a "national road freight certificate" or by referring to a road freight certificate.
( b ) The Minister may attach conditions to a road freight certificate and vary such conditions, and any conditions so attached to such a certificate shall be in addition to the conditions referred to in paragraphs (3) and (5) of this Regulation.
( c ) The Minister may renew a road freight certificate granted on an application described in paragraph (7) of this Regulation.
(2) The Minister shall grant an international road freight certificate to every person who on the commencement of these Regulations is the holder of a merchandise licence which he first held before the 1st day of January, 1975.
(3) The Minister shall grant an international road freight certificate to every person who is the holder of a merchandise licence which he first held neither earlier than the 1st day of January, 1975 nor later than the 31st day of December, 1977, subject to the following condition, namely, that if such person wishes to continue to hold the certificate after the 31st day of December, 1979, he shall not later than that day satisfy the Minister that,
(i) the requirements of provision (c) are complied with by him, or
(ii) in case the holder is an individual and does not satisfy provision (c), he has designated another person who satisfies the said requirements, and who will continuously and effectively manage the merchandise road transport business carried on by the said holder, or
(iii) in case the holder is an undertaking, the said requirements are satisfied by an individual designated by the undertaking and who both,
( a ) satisfies the requirements of provision (c) and
( b ) will continuously and effectively manage the merchandise road transport business carried on by the said holder,
and in case the said holder does not satisfy the Minister, in accordance with the foregoing, then on the expiration of the 31st day of December, 1979, the certificate shall cease to have effect.
(4) Where an application is made to the Minister to grant under this Regulation a road freight certificate and the applicant satisfies the Minister that he is carrying on a merchandise road transport business which he lawfully carried on, prior to the 1st day of January, 1975, and that the certificate is required by the applicant for the purpose of complying with Regulation 3 (1) of these Regulations, in so far as it applies to the business, the Minister shall allow the application and grant to the applicant an international road freight certificate.
(5) Where an application is made to the Minister to grant under this Regulation a road freight certificate and the applicant satisfies the Minister that he is carrying on a merchandise road transport business which he established and lawfully carried on, neither earlier than the 1st day of January, 1975 nor later than the 31st day of December, 1977, and that the certificate is required by the applicant for the purpose of complying with Regulation 3 (1) of these Regulations in so far as it applies to the business, the Minister shall allow the application and grant to the applicant an international road freight certificate, but the application shall be allowed subject to, and only subject to, the condition specified in paragraph (3) of this Regulation, and in case the applicant does not satisfy the Minister in accordance with the said condition, then on the expiration of the 31st day of December, 1979, the certificate shall cease to have effect.
(6) In case an applicant gives to the Minister a national certificate of competence in pursuance of paragraph (3) or (5) of this Regulation, the Minister shall cancel the international road freight certificate granted by him pursuant to paragraph (3) or paragraph (5), as the case may be, as on and from the 1st day of January, 1980 (which he is hereby empowered to do) and in lieu thereof grant to the applicant a national road freight certificate having effect as on and from that day.
(7) For the purposes of paragraphs (11), (12), (13), (14) and (15) of this Regulation, an application made to the Minister for the grant or renewal of a road freight certificate, other than an application described in paragraph (4) or paragraph (5) of this Regulation, shall be in such form and contain such particulars as the Minister may require and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing such an application shall be accompanied by the following:
( a ) subject to paragraph (16) of this Regulation, particulars of any relevant offence of which the applicant has been convicted,
(i) in case the application is for the grant of such a certificate, during the period of three years ending on the date of the application,
(ii) in case the application is for the first renewal of such a certificate, since the date of the application for the grant of the certificate,
(iii) in case the application is for a renewal of such certificate other than the first renewal, since the date of the application for the last renewal of the certificate,
together with, in case an individual is designated by the applicant in pursuance of paragraph (8) of this Regulation, particulars of any relevant offence of what that person has been so convicted,
( b ) A certificate of competence granted to the applicant or to a person designated by the applicant in accordance with these Regulations and which shall be,
(i) in case the applicant intends to operate a merchandise road transport business only within the State, a national certificate of competence,
(ii) in case the applicant intends otherwise to operate such a business an international certificate of competence, and
( c ) in case the application is for the grant of such a certificate,