§ Mr. PoundTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what progress is being made following his consultation on the system of single vehicle approvals. [84208]
§ Dr. ReidChanges to the current limit on the number of commercially traded vehicles which can be approved into the UK each year under the Single Vehicle Approval Scheme (SVA) scheme will be introduced from March 2000. The main elements of the changes are
Progressive lifting of limits on the total number of commercially traded vehicles which can be approved and registered under SVA, starting with 1,000 vehicles in March next year and increasing by 1,000 each month until the end of year 2000 when all limits will be lifted.181WIntroduction of enhanced technical standards for key environmental, safety and security (anti-theft) items to apply to commercially traded vehicles. The current SVA standards will continue to apply to amateur-built vehicles and genuine personal imports as redefined below.Complete lifting of limits on vehicles which have been approved to equivalent standards to the enhanced SVA in other European member states.Tightening of the rules for vehicles to qualify as "personal imports" by requiring importers to have lived abroad for at least 12 months and used their vehicles abroad for at least 6 months.