Possible mandatory trailer registration in the UK

British Marine’s attention has been brought to a piece of legislation passing through Parliament at present which could introduce trailer registration and MOT requirements into UK law, subject to the outcome of the UK’s Brexit negotiations.

The piece of draft legislation in question is the Haulage Permits and Trailer Registration Bill [HL] 2017-19. The Government’s stated policy is to work towards a Brexit deal that will not require the Secretary of State for Transport to use the powers given to him under Part 1 of this Bill for EU countries, although the powers would be used for existing and future non-EU permit schemes.

Following conversations with a number of member companies in both the marine logistics and boat distribution and maintenance sectors, British Marine is not aware of any issues or objections over this new piece of legislation. However, should a member company have any feedback or concerns, please contact British Marine immediately at technical@britishmarine.co.uk or aharries@britishmarine.co.uk.

Essentially this Bill has two purposes:

1. It creates the architecture for a number of scenarios, including a ‘no deal’ Brexit. It would allow the Secretary of State for Transport to deal with the consequences of a range of exit scenarios on the UK haulage industry by creating an international road haulage permit scheme
2. It deals with the consequences of the UK ratifying the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, specifically as it relates to trailers, by providing the Secretary of State for Transport with powers to make a trailer registration scheme

The part of the Bill that British Marine is most interested in concerns trailer registration. The Department for Transport (DfT) has put forward proposals in this Bill for a mandatory registration system for commercial-use trailers and heavier non-commercial-use trailers, excluding existing domestic-use trailers. The inclusion of certain new, domestic-use trailers was the preferred option of the Government and this option would require mandatory registration for the following trailers:

• All existing commercial-use trailers over 750kg travelling internationally
• All existing non-commercial-use trailers over 3.5 tonnes travelling internationally
• All new, commercial-use trailers over 750kg whether travelling internationally or only within the UK
• All new, non-commercial-use trailers over 3.5 tonnes whether travelling internationally or only within the UK

Full text of the Bill is available here – https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2017-2019/0199/cbill_2017-20190199_en_1.htm

An additional briefing document on the Bill, which is much easier to digest and provides more clarity, has been produced by the House of Commons Library and is available here – https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-8297#fullreport