The Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) (Exemptions and Modifications) (Amendment) Regulations 2023

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of these Regulations)

These Regulations amend regulations relating to the licensing of operators to provide for vehicles brought temporarily into Great Britain.

These Regulations revoke and replace the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) (Temporary Use in Great Britain) Regulations 1996 (S.I. 1996/2186) (“the 1996 Regulations”).

Part 1: Preliminary provisions

Part 1 contains preliminary provisions relating to citation, commencement and extent.

Part 2: Amendment of the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Regulations 1995

Part 2 amends the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Regulations 1995 (S.I. 1995/2869) (“the 1995 Regulations”).

Regulations 3 to 6 make amendments relating to interpretation and the introduction of the Schedules providing for classes of vehicle for which an operator’s licence is not required and modifications of legislative provisions in relation to certain vehicles brought temporarily into Great Britain which are not exempted from the licence requirement.

Classes of vehicle for which an operator’s licence is not required

Regulation 7 inserts a new Part 3 in Schedule 3 to the 1995 Regulations (classes of vehicles for which a licence is not required).

New Part 3 includes classes of vehicle brought temporarily into Great Britain for the carriage of goods by international operators in countries with which the United Kingdom has an international agreement relating to the transport of goods by road to, from or through the United Kingdom.

The effect of new Part 3 is to exempt users of the classes of vehicle from the requirement under section 2(1) of the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995 (c. 23) to hold an operator’s licence issued under that Act.

New Part 3 provides unilateral exemptions for persons using vehicles:

• registered in the Channel Islands, the Faroe Islands, the Isle of Man or Gibraltar (see paragraph 66 of new Part 3);

• used in limited circumstances by operators that have an effective and stable establishment in a country other than the United Kingdom or a member State of the European Union (see paragraph 68 of new Part 3).

In addition, there are exemptions relating to Northern Ireland goods vehicles.

The remainder of the exemptions implement or re-implement obligations under the following international road transport agreements to which the United Kingdom is a party.

Country	Agreement
Albania	Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Republic of Albania on International Road Transport done at Rome on 9th February 1993 (Treaty Series No. 48 (1994))
Albania; Armenia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Belgium; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Bulgaria; Croatia; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; France; Georgia; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Ireland; Italy; Latvia; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Malta; Moldova; Montenegro; Netherlands; North Macedonia; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Russia; Serbia; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Turkey; Ukraine	Protocol concerning the European Conference of Ministers of Transport done at Brussels on 17th October 1953 (Treaty Series No. 32 (1954))
	Consolidated Resolution No. 2000/1 concerning the Rules to be Applied for International Freight Transport by Road done at Prague on 30th and 31st May 2000 (CM(2000)10)
Armenia; Kyrgyzstan; Russia; Tajikistan; Turkmenistan; Uzbekistan	Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics concerning International Road Transport with Administrative Memorandum done at London on 22nd January 1988 (Treaty Series No. 4 (1989))
Austria; Belgium; Bulgaria; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Ireland; Italy; Latvia; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Malta; Netherlands; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden	Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the one part, and the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the other part done at Brussels and London on 30th December 2020 (Treaty Series No. 8 (2021))
Azerbaijan	Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan on International Road Transport done at Baku on 23 February 2023 (publication pending)
Belarus	Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Republic of Belarus concerning International Motor Vehicle Carriage done at Minsk on 18th March 2019 (Belarus No. 1 (2019))
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina on International Road Transport done at Sarajevo on 1st December 2020 (Bosnia and Herzegovina No. 1 (2021))
Georgia	Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Georgia on International Road Transport done at London on 13th November 1997 (Georgia No. 1 (1998))
Jordan	Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on the International Transport of Goods by Road done at Amman on 2nd February 1981 (Treaty Series No. 43 (1982), amended by Treaty Series No. 68 (1986))
Kazakhstan	Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan on International Road Transport done at London on 22nd November 2006 (Kazakhstan No. 1 (2019))
Kosovo	Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Republic of Kosovo on International Road Transport done at Pristina on 11th December 2020 (Kosovo No. 1 (2021))
Liechtenstein; Switzerland	Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Swiss Federal Council on the International Carriage of Passengers and Goods by Road done at Davos on 25th January 2019 (Switzerland No. 1 (2019)). (Article 12(2) extends the Agreement to Liechtenstein.)
Moldova	Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Republic of Moldova on International Road Transport done at London on 15th October 1996 (Moldova No. 2 (1996))
Montenegro	Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Montenegro on International Road Transport done at London on 3rd September 2019 (Montenegro No. 2 (2019))
Morocco	Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco on the International Carriage of Goods by Road with Administrative Memorandum done at Marrakesh on 15th April 1994 (Treaty Series No. 90 (2000))
North Macedonia	Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Macedonian Government on International Road Transport done at Skopje on 18th June 1996 (Treaty Series No. 35 (2005))
Norway	Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Kingdom of Norway on International Road Transport, with Protocol done at Oslo on 18th March 2019 (Norway No. 1 (2019))
Serbia	Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Republic of Serbia on International Road Transport done at London on 6th February 2019 (Serbia No. 1 (2019))
Tunisia	Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Tunisian Republic on the International Carriage of Goods by Road done at London on 10th March 1982 (Treaty Series No. 25 (1989))
Turkey	Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Republic of Turkey concerning International Road Transport done at Ankara on 9th September 1977 (Treaty Series No. 72 (1978), amended by Turkey No. 1 (2010))
Ukraine	Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Ukraine on International Road Transport done at London on 13th December 1995 (Treaty Series No. 121 (2000), amended by Ukraine No. 1 (2019))

Information on locating the text of the agreements to which these Regulations relate may be found online at www.gov.uk/guidance/uk-treaties. Hard copies can be obtained on request from the International Road Haulage Permit Office: email [e-mail] or telephone [phone].

Modification of the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995 and the 1995 Regulations

Regulation 8 inserts new Schedule 3A into the 1995 Regulations. New Schedule 3A modifies the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995 and the 1995 Regulations to provide for the issuing of temporary operators’ licences to international operators, where the vehicle used is not subject to a relevant international agreement.

Part 3: Amendment of the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) (Fees) Regulations 1995

Part 3 amends the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) (Fees) Regulations 1995 (S.I. 1995/3000).

Regulation 9 inserts new paragraph 10 into regulation 3 (fees) to provide that no fee is payable in relation to an operator’s licence applied for, or issued under, the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995 as modified by regulation 33A of, and Schedule 3A to, the 1995 Regulations.

Part 4: Revocations and transitional provision

Regulation 10 revokes the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) (Temporary Use in Great Britain) Regulations 1996 and instruments which solely amend those Regulations. Regulation 11 provides that the revocations do not have effect in relation to any Icelandic goods vehicle (within the meaning given in the 1996 Regulations) present in Great Britain when these Regulations come into force until such time as that vehicle leaves Great Britain.

Part 5: Review

Regulation 12 requires the Secretary of State to review the regulatory provision in these Regulations at least once every five years.

Further information

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary, or public sector is foreseen.

The Explanatory Memorandum is published alongside this instrument at www.legislation.gov.uk.