# The Road Transport (International Passenger Services) (Amendment) Regulations 2024, Regulation 7: Amendment of the Public Service Vehicles (International Passenger Services) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019


(1) The Public Service Vehicles (International Passenger Services) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019 are amended as follows.
(2) In regulation 2 (interpretation)—
(a) in paragraph (1)—
(i) for the definition of “Interbus”, substitute—
““Interbus” means the Agreement on the international occasional carriage of passengers by coach and bus (Interbus Agreement) originally concluded in Brussels on 30th June 2001 and as acceded to by the United Kingdom by instrument of accession deposited on 29th October 2020;”;
(ii) after the definition of “Regulation 1071/2009”, insert—
““RPT Chapter” means Title II of Heading Three of Part Two (transport of passengers by road) of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, together with—
(a) Annexes 32, 33 and 34 to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, and
(b) Articles 124, 135 and 137 of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, so far as applying to that Title;
“RSR Protocol” means the Protocol to Interbus regarding the international regular and special regular carriage of passengers by coach and bus;
“Trade and Cooperation Agreement” has the meaning given in section 37(1) of the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020;”;
(iii) omit the definition of “Regulation 1073/2009”;
(b) in paragraph (2), for “Regulation 1073/2009 and Interbus”, substitute “the RPT Chapter, Interbus and the RSR Protocol”;
(c) in paragraph (3), for “Regulation 1073/2009 or Interbus”, substitute “the RPT Chapter, Interbus or the RSR Protocol”.
(3) After regulation 2, insert—
“Status of International Agreements
2A (1) The road passenger transport agreements, in their English language version, form part of the law of Northern Ireland on and after 1st April 2025.
(2) Any statutory provision has effect on and after 1st April 2025 with such modifications as—
(a) are required in consequence of paragraph (1) or otherwise for the purposes of implementing the road passenger transport agreements, and
(b) are capable of being ascertained from the agreements or otherwise from the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, as it has effect on that date.
(3) Paragraphs (1) and (2)—
(a) are subject to any equivalent or other provision—
(i) which (whether before, on or after 1st April 2025) is made by or under the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020 or any other statutory provision or otherwise forms part of the law of Northern Ireland, and
(ii) which is for the purposes of (or has the effect of) implementing to any extent the Trade and Cooperation Agreement or any other future relationship agreement (as defined in section 37(1) of the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020), and
(b) do not limit the scope of any power which is capable of being exercised to make any such provision.
(4) For the purposes of this regulation—
(a) the road passenger transport agreements are the following, as they have effect on 1st April 2025—
(i) the RPT Chapter,
(ii) Interbus, and
(iii) the RSR Protocol;
(b) references to the purposes of (or having the effect of) implementing an agreement (or any provision of an agreement) include references to the purposes of (or having the effect of) making provision consequential on any such implementation.”.
(4) In regulation 3 (competent authority)—
(a) the existing text becomes paragraph (1);
(b) in paragraph (1), for “Regulation 1073/2009, Interbus”, substitute “the RPT Chapter, Interbus, the RSR Protocol”;
(c) after paragraph (1) insert—
“(2) It is the duty of the Department to perform the functions conferred on the competent authority by the provisions specified in paragraph (1).”.
(5) In regulation 4 (use of a public service vehicle not registered in the United Kingdom)—
(a) at the end of paragraph (1)(a), omit “or”; and
(b) “(b) the RSR Protocol for the provision of regular services or special regular services; or
(c) the RPT Chapter for the provision of occasional services, regular services or special regular services outside the scope of Interbus and the RSR Protocol.”.
(6) In regulation 10(1) (supply of information), for the words from “Article 7(3)” to the end, substitute—
“—
(a) Article 9(3) of the RSR Protocol; or
(b) Article 478(3) of the RPT Chapter.”.
(7) In regulation 11(1) (power to stop), for sub-paragraph (a) substitute—
“(a) an operator’s licence for the international carriage of passengers by road,”;
(8) For regulation 16(1) (offences), substitute—
“(1) A person is guilty of an offence if that person breaches a provision of—
(a) Interbus set out in Schedule 2;
(b) the RSR Protocol set out in Schedule 3; or
(c) the RPT Chapter set out in Schedule 4.”.
(9) In regulation 18 (penalties)—
(a) omit paragraph (1);
(b) in paragraph (2), for “any other” substitute “an”.
(10) Omit Schedule 1 (offences for breach of Regulation 1073/2009).
(11) Schedule 2 inserts into the Regulations a new Schedule 3 (offences for breach of the RSR Protocol) and a new Schedule 4 (offences for breach of the RPT Chapter).

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2024/9780348264760/regulation/7 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/draft-road-transport-international-passenger-services-amendment-regulations-2024/regulation-7
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.