The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel, Pre-Departure Testing and Operator Liability) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021

PART 2 N.I. Operator liability in respect of arrivals

Interpretation of Part 2 N.I.

5.  In this Part—

“child” means a person under the age of 18;

“immigration officer” means a person appointed by the Secretary of State as an immigration officer under paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971 M1 ;

“operator” means operator of a commercial transport service;

“passenger” means a person travelling on a conveyance who is not a member of the conveyance's crew;

“Passenger Locator Form” has the meaning given in regulation 2(1) of the principal Regulations;

“port” means any port (including a seaport, airport or heliport);

F1 ...

“relevant passenger” means a passenger who fails, without reasonable excuse—

(a)

to provide evidence of having provided passenger information when requested to do so by an immigration officer pursuant to regulation 3(7) of the principal Regulations; or

(b)

to produce a [F2 valid notification of a negative result from a qualifying test] when requested to do so by an immigration officer pursuant to regulation 3A(4) of the principal Regulations;

“relevant service” means a commercial transport service carrying passengers travelling to Northern Ireland from outside the common travel area;

[F3 “required notification” means notification of the result of a test for the detection of coronavirus which includes, in English, French or Spanish, the following information—

(a)

the name of the person from whom the test sample was taken,

(b)

that person’s date of birth or age,

(c)

the negative result of that test,

(d)

the date the test sample was collected or received by the test provider,

(e)

the name of the test provider and information sufficient to contact that provider,

(f)

[F4 a statement—

(i)

that the test was a polymerase chain reaction test, or

(ii)

of the name of the device that was used for the test;]]

“the requirement to possess notification of a negative test result” means the requirement in regulation 3A(1) of the principal Regulations;

“the requirement to provide information” means the requirement in regulation 3(1) of the principal Regulations;

“responsible individual” means an individual who—

(a)

has custody or charge of the child for the time being, or

(b)

has parental responsibility for the child within the meaning given in article 6 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 M2 .

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in reg. 5 omitted (30.1.2021 at 4.00 a.m.) by virtue of The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel, Operator Liability and Public Health Advice) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021 (S.R. 2021/17), regs. 1(1), 4(2)(a)

F2 Words in reg. 5 substituted (30.1.2021 at 4.00 a.m.) by The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel, Operator Liability and Public Health Advice) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021 (S.R. 2021/17), regs. 1(1), 4(2)(b)

F3 Words in reg. 5 substituted (30.1.2021 at 4.00 a.m.) by The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel, Operator Liability and Public Health Advice) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021 (S.R. 2021/17), regs. 1(1), 4(2)(c)

F4 Words in reg. 5 substituted (20.2.2021 at 4.00 a.m.) by The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) (Amendment No. 7) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021 (S.R. 2021/39), regs. 1(1), 11

Marginal Citations

M1 1971 c. 77. Paragraph 1 was amended by paragraph 3 of Schedule 3 to the Health Protection Agency Act 2004 (c. 17), and by S.I. 1993/1813

M2 S.I. 1995/755 (N.I. 2)

Requirement to ensure passengers have completed a Passenger Locator Form N.I.

6.—(1) An operator must ensure that a passenger who arrives at a port in Northern Ireland on a relevant service has completed a Passenger Locator Form.

(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply in relation to a passenger—

(a) whom the operator, or a person acting on behalf of the operator, reasonably believes is not required to comply with the requirement to provide information;

(b) who informs the operator, or a person acting on behalf of the operator, that they have a disability which prevents them from completing a Passenger Locator Form; or

(c) who is a child, travelling without a responsible individual.

Requirement to ensure passengers possess notification of negative test result N.I.

7.—(1) An operator must ensure that a passenger who arrives at a port in Northern Ireland on a relevant service is in possession of a required notification.

(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply in relation to a passenger—

(a) whom the operator, or a person acting on behalf of the operator, reasonably believes is not required to comply with the requirement to possess notification of a negative test result or has a reasonable excuse for failing to comply with that requirement;

(b) who is a child, travelling without a responsible individual; or

(c) who is a transit passenger who does not have the right to enter the country or territory from which the relevant service departs.

(3) In this regulation, “transit passenger” means a person who has arrived in the country or territory from which the relevant service departs with the intention of passing through to Northern Ireland without entering that country or territory.

Offences N.I.

8.—(1) An operator who fails to comply with the requirement in—

(a) regulation 6(1), or

(b) regulation 7(1),

commits an offence.

(2) An offence under paragraph (1) is punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding £10,000.

(3) In relation to the offence in paragraph (1)(a), it is a defence for an operator to show that they recorded a unique passenger reference number for the relevant passenger before that passenger boarded the relevant service.

(4) In relation to the offence in paragraph (1)(b), it is a defence for an operator to show that the relevant passenger presented a document purporting to be a required notification which the operator, or a person acting on behalf of the operator, could not reasonably have been expected to know was not a required notification.

(5) In this regulation, “unique passenger reference number” means a reference number which has been provided by or on behalf of the relevant passenger and which includes the letters “UKVI” followed immediately by an underscore and thirteen alphanumeric characters.

Power to use and disclose information N.I.

9.—(1) This regulation applies to any person (“P”) who holds information described in paragraph (2) relating to a relevant passenger (“relevant information”).

(2) The information referred to in paragraph (1) is—

(a) information provided by, or on behalf of, the relevant passenger by way of explanation for failing to comply with regulation 3 or 3A of the principal Regulations,

(b) information about the steps taken, pursuant to the principal Regulations, in relation to the relevant passenger, including details of any fixed penalty notice issued under those Regulations,

(c) personal details of the relevant passenger, including their—

(i) full name,

(ii) date of birth,

(iii) passport number, or travel document reference number (as appropriate), issue and expiry dates and issuing authority,

(iv) home address,

(v) telephone number,

(vi) email address,

(d) journey details of the relevant passenger, including—

(i) their time and date of arrival in Northern Ireland,

(ii) the name of the operator of the relevant service on which they arrived or through which their booking was made,

(iii) their coach number,

(iv) the flight number or vessel name,

(v) the departure and arrival locations of the relevant service.

(3) P may only use relevant information where it is necessary for the purpose of carrying out a function under these Regulations.

(4) P may only disclose relevant information to another person (“the recipient”) where it is necessary for the recipient to have the relevant information for the purpose of carrying out a function under these Regulations.

(5) This regulation does not limit the circumstances in which information may otherwise lawfully be disclosed under any other enactment or rule of law.

(6) Nothing in this regulation authorises the use or disclosure of personal data where doing so contravenes the data protection legislation.

(7) For the purposes of this regulation “data protection legislation” and “personal data” have the same meanings as in section 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 M3 .

Marginal Citations

M3 2018 c. 12

Review N.I.

10.  The Department of Health must review the need for the requirements imposed by regulations 6 and 7 of these Regulations as part of the reviews conducted as required by the principal Regulations.

Expiry N.I.

11.—(1) This Part expires at the end of 7th June 2021.

(2) The expiry of this Part does not affect the validity of anything done pursuant to these Regulations before it expires.