The UK’s Department for Transport (DfT) is expected to soon publish long-awaited consultation on a significant update to legislation based on European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval (ECWVTA) as it applies to heavy and light commercial vehicles.
Following a similar process, the Irish Republic’s Road Safety Authority published its consultation on proposed amendments to the “European Communities (Road Vehicles: Type Approval) Regulations 2009” last month, with a closing date for responses set at Jan. 29.
The UK’s DfT is expected to follow suit within a matter of weeks with broadly similar proposals, not least because of “mutual recognition” arrangements between the UK and Irish Republic on type approval matters.
According to Transport News Brief:
Truck and trailer manufacturers in the UK are hoping that the consultation will include reference to the numerical limits for National Small Series Type Approval (NSSTA), even though there is no mention of this in the Irish consultation. This remains a thorny issue because a four-metre truck height limit is in force throughout the EU for international journeys. In the Irish Republic the national limit is 4.65 metres. There is no limit in the UK. Truck manufacturers, trailer makers and bodybuilders at present need to obtain multiple NSSTAs to satisfy the demand for vehicles exceeding 4.00 metres.
Central to the Irish Republic’s consultation, and expected to be in the UK’s, are measures to close the National Small Series Type Approval (NSSTA) and Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) loophole which has allowed small numbers of trucks and buses with Euro-V engines to go on being built and sold in the UK and Irish Republic beyond the nominal final Euro-VI registration deadline of 1 January 2014.
The full story is available here.