§ Lord Shore of Stepneyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the recently published agreement on international road transport between the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of the Ukraine signed on 13 December 1995, entered into force only on 10 June; and whether this agreement is affected by the Common Strategy Agreement between the European Union and the Ukraine, signed in December 1999. [HL4551]
§ Lord Macdonald of TradestonInternational road transport agreements enter fully into force only when both signatories have completed their respective domestic legislative procedures. For our part, these legislative procedures were completed in 1996. In February this year we received formal notification from the Ukrainian authorities that they had done likewise, at which point we were able to complete the ratification process. The agreement has, however, been applied informally since the date of signature and under its provisions we have been exchanging road haulage permits with the Ukraine for the past four years to the benefit of UK hauliers. Our bilateral agreement with the Ukraine is unaffected by the Common Strategy Agreement.