Title and commencement

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Agricultural or Forestry Tractors and Tractor Components (Type Approval) (Fees) Regulations 1991 and shall come into force on 25th October 1991.

Interpretation

2.-(1) In these Regulations, except where the context otherwise requires-

• "certificate" means, in respect of a tractor, a type approval certificate and in respect of a tractor component, a component type approval certificate issued for the purposes of a Community Directive;

• "Community Directive" means a Directive issued by the Council or Commission of the European Communities concerning the approximation of the laws of member States relating to the type approval of tractors or tractor components, being a Directive specified in column 2 of Part B of Schedule 1;

• "examination" means an examination, comprising one or more tests of the subject matter specified in column 3 of Part B of Schedule 1, which is required to be carried out for the purposes of the 1988 Regulations;

• "official testing station" means premises established or approved by the Minister for the testing of tractors or tractor components for the purposes of a Community Directive;

• "the 1988 Regulations" means the Agricultural or Forestry Tractors and Tractor Components (Type Approval) Regulations 1988(2); and

• "tractor" and "tractor component" mean, respectively, an agricultural or forestry tractor and a tractor component to which the 1988 Regulations apply.

(2) Any reference in these Regulations to a numbered regulation or Schedule shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as a reference to the regulation or Schedule bearing that number in these Regulations.

(3) Subject to paragraphs (1) and (2) above, expressions used in these Regulations and in the 1988 Regulations have the same meanings in these Regulations as in those.

Fees for examinations-standard scale

3. Subject to the provisions of these Regulations, the fee to be paid for the carrying out or supervision by or on behalf of the Minister of an examination of a tractor or tractor component in connection with the issue of a certificate shall be-

(a)where the examination is to be carried out at an official testing station by an officer of the Minister or a person appointed by the Minister to act on his behalf, the aggregate of-

(i)the amount specified as the First Item in Part A of Schedule 1, and

(ii)the amount (if any) or the aggregate of the amounts specified in column 4 of Part B of Schedule 1 in relation to such of the tests specified in column 3 of that Part as is or are to be carried out; or

(b)where the examination is to be carried out on other premises under the supervision of an officer of the Minister or a person appointed by the Minister to act on his behalf, the aggregate of-

(i)the amount specified as the Second Item in Part A of Schedule 1, and

(ii)the amount (if any) or the aggregate of the amounts specified in column 5 of Part B of Schedule I in relation to such of the tests specified in column 3 of that Part as is or are to be carried out.

4.-(1) Subject to the provisions of these Regulations, where a tractor or tractor component is submitted for examination for there to be carried out thereon either of the tests identified by fee numbers 17 and 24 in column 1 of Part B of Schedule 1, the fee to be paid in respect of each such test shall be-

(a)where the examination is to be carried out at an official testing station by an officer of the Minister or a person appointed by the Minister to act on his behalf, the aggregate of-

(i)the amount specified as the First Item in Part A of Schedule 1, and

(ii)the amount specified in relation to the relevant test in column 4 of Part B of Schedule 1; or

(b)where the examination is to be carried out on other premises under the supervision of an officer of the Minister or a person appointed by the Minister to act on his behalf, the aggregate of-

(i)the amount specified as the Second Item in Part A of Schedule 1, and

(ii)the amount specified in relation to the relevant test in column 5 of Part B of Schedule 1.

(2) Subject to the provisions of these Regulations, where a tractor or tractor component is submitted for examination for there to be carried out thereon any of the tests identified by fee numbers 32 to 42 inclusive in column 1 of Part B of Schedule 1, the fee to be paid in respect of each such test shall be the aggregate of-

(a)the amount specified as the First Item in Part A of Schedule 1, and

(b)the amount specified in relation to the relevant test in column 4 of Part B of Schedule 1.

Fees for examinations-reduced scale

5. Where a tractor or tractor component is submitted for examination for there to be carried out thereon a series of not more than four tests for each of which the fee number in column 1 of Part B of Schedule 1 is marked with an asterisk, the fee to be paid in respect of that series of tests shall be-

(a)where the examination is to be carried out at an official testing station by an officer of the Minister or a person appointed by the Minister to act on his behalf, the amount specified as the First Item in Part A of Schedule 1 only, or

(b)where the examination is to be carried out on other premises under the supervision of an officer of the Minister or a person appointed by the Minister to act on his behalf, the amount specified as the Second Item in Part A of Schedule 1 only.

Fees-consecutive examinations

6. Where more than one tractor or tractor component of the same type but embodying minor variations are submitted for examination by the same applicant with a view to the examinations being carried out consecutively on each tractor or tractor component and the circumstances are such that the examinations can be carried out without the testing apparatus being set up afresh after each examination, the fee to be paid for the carrying out of each examination after the first one shall be such proportion of the fee payable for the first examination as the Minister considers to be appropriate in view of the work involved in carrying out each subsequent examination.

Fees-partial examinations

7.-(1) Where in consequence of an alteration in the design specification of a tractor or tractor component in relation to which a certificate has been issued a further examination of the tractor or tractor component is needed with a view to the issue of a modification of a certificate, but the alteration is not so extensive as to require that the further examination shall be as complete as the original examination, the fee to be paid for the carrying out of the further examination shall be such proportion of the fee payable for a complete examination as the Minister considers to be appropriate in view of the nature and extent of the further examination.

(2) Where more than one tractor or tractor component of the same type but embodying minor variations are submitted for examination by the same applicant and the circumstances are such that it is unnecessary to submit each individual tractor or tractor component to a complete examination, the fee to be paid for the carrying out of a partial examination of a tractor or tractor component shall be such proportion of the fee payable for a complete examination as the Minister considers to be appropriate in view of the nature and extent of the partial examination.

Fees-issue of documents

8. The fee for the issue of a document of a type specified in column 2 of Schedule 2 shall be the amount specified in relation to that document in column 3 of that Schedule.

Payment of fees

9.-(1) The fee for the carrying out or supervision of an examination of a tractor or tractor component shall be paid when application is made for the issue of a certificate for the tractor or tractor component in question.

(2) The fee for the issue of a document of a type specified in column 2 of Schedule 2 shall be paid-

(a)in a case where the examination of a tractor or tractor component is required before the document is issued, when the applicant is notified of the result of the examination, and

(b)in any other case, when application is made for the issue of the document.

Refund of fees

10.-(1) Subject to regulation 11, if an applicant-

(a)withdraws his application after he has been notified of the time and place for the examination, or

(b)does not submit the tractor or tractor component for examination at the time and place fixed therefor,

the Minister shall refund to him the amount of the fee which he has paid under these Regulations less £40 (in respect of the work involved in dealing with the application and making arrangements for the examination).

(2) If an appointment for the examination of a tractor or tractor component is cancelled at the instance of the Minister and no alternative appointment acceptable to the applicant is offered to him, the Minister shall refund to the applicant the whole of the fee paid by him.

Submission of alternative tractor or tractor component for examination

11. Where an applicant for the issue of a certificate for a tractor or tractor component does not wish or is unable to submit that tractor or tractor component for examination at the time and place appointed but is able to submit for examination at that time and place some other tractor or tractor component which can conveniently be fitted into the programme of examinations being carried out at that place and in respect of which tractor or tractor component he has made an application for a certificate, he shall be entitled to have the sum which he originally paid, adjusted by way of refund or additional payment so as to secure that the appropriate fee is paid for the examination which actually takes place, applied in payment of the fee for that examination instead of receiving a refund under regulation 10(1).

Revocation

12. The Agricultural or Forestry Tractors and Tractor Components (Type Approval) (Fees) Regulations 1979(3) and the Agricultural or Forestry Tractors and Tractor Components (Type Approval) (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 1990(4) are hereby revoked.

Regulations 2(1), 3, 4(1) and (2) and 5

SCHEDULE 1FEES FOR EXAMINATION OF AGRICULTURAL OR FORESTRY TRACTORS AND TRACTOR COMPONENTS

PART A-BASIC FEES

First Item (see regulations 3(a)(i), 4(1)(a)(i), 4(2)(a) and 5(a)) ... ... ... ... £394

Second Item (see regulations 3(b)(i), 4(1)(b)(i) and 5(b)) ... ... ... ... £452

PART B-SUPPLEMENTARY FEES

Regulations 8 and 9(2)

SCHEDULE 2FEES FOR THE ISSUE OF DOCUMENTRS

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations consolidate with amendments the Agricultural or Forestry Tractors and Tractor Components (Type Approval) (Fees) Regulations 1979. The Regulations prescribe the fees payable for the examination of agricultural or forestry tractors and their components and the issue of documents in connection with the type-approval or component type-approval of such tractors and their components which conform to the requirements of the Community Directives listed in column 2 of Part B of Schedule 1, for the purposes of Council Directive 74/150/EEC (OJ No. L84, 28.3.74, p. 10), as amended, on the approximation of laws relating to the type-approval of wheeled agricultural or forestry tractors.

Apart from drafting amendments, the changes of substance made by these Regulations are a change in the deduction for administration costs when a fee is refunded (regulation 10(1)), the provision of separate fees for the tests relating to lights and light signalling, the introduction of fees in respect of 12 additional tests relating to windscreens and other glazing, and the revision of the amounts of the fees (Schedules 1 and 2). This revision is largely due to a re-assessment of the Ministry's administrative costs, and the costs of testing in the light of experience. The Basic Fees in Part A of Schedule 1 are increased by 10% and 9% for the First and Second Item respectively, and the Supplementary Fees in Part B are increased by varying amounts of between 14% and 215%, with an average increase of 56%. In Schedule 2, fees for the issue of a type-approval certificate and the provision of duplicates remain unchanged, but fees for the modification of a type-approval certificate and for a type-approval certificate based on tests to equivalent standards, which have not been changed since 1985, are increased from £75 to £516 and £140 to £862 respectively, following a re-assessment of the costs involved.

The Regulations provide for the calculation of the fees by reference to Basic Fees and Supplementary Fees set out in Schedule 1 on a standard scale (regulations 3 and 4) or a reduced scale (regulation 5), and provide for fees to be adjusted where consecutive or partial examinations are conducted (regulations 6 and 7 respectively). The fees for the issue of documents are prescribed (regulation 8 and Schedule 2). The Regulations also:

(a)prescribe when fees are to be paid (regulation 9),

(b)provide for the refund of fees in certain circumstances (regulation 10), and

(c)provide for the application of fees already paid where an alternative tractor or component is submitted for examination (regulation 11).