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AGREEMENT
between the Republic of Latvia and the Kingdom of Spain on international transport by road

 

The Republic of Latvia and the Kingdom of Spain (hereinafter called "the Contracting Parties") desiring to promote transport of passengers and goods by motor vehicles between and in transit through the territories of both countries, have agreed as follows:

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

Definitions

1. "Home country" means the territory of the Contracting Party in which a vehicle is registered.

2. "Host country" means the territory of the Contracting Party in which a vehicle is being used in transport operations but other than the vehicle's country of registration.

3. "Carrier" means any physical or legal person, who in either the Republic of Latvia or the Kingdom of Spain, is authorized in accordance with the relevant national laws and regulations to engage in the international carriage of passengers or goods by road.

4. "Passenger motor vehicle" means any power driven road vehicle which is adapted for carriage of passengers, has more than nine seats, including the driver's seat, and is registered in the territory of one of the Contracting Parties.

5. "Commercial motor vehicle" means any power driven road vehicle which is adapted and normally used for goods transport. For the purposes of this Agreement the term "commercial motor vehicle" also applies to any trailer or semitrailer, coupled to any commercial road vehicle as well as any combination of road vehicles. It should be registered in the territory of one of the Contracting Parties.

Article 2

Scope

1. A carrier who in his home country according to its national legislation is entitled to perform international road transport operations, on hire and reward or on own account, may perform such operations to, from, or in transit through the other country's territory on terms specified in this Agreement.

2. Similarly, and subject to the conditions laid down in this Agreement, transport operations to and from third countries could be authorized.

Article 3

Compliance with national legislation

Carriers and their staff must comply with national laws and provisions in force in the territory of the host country while performing road transport operations within the host country's territory.

Article 4

Joint Committee

1. The two Contracting Parties shall establish a Joint Committee to review the implementation and application of this Agreement.

2. This Joint Committee shall meet at the request of either Contracting Party at meetings that will be held alternately in the territories of the Contracting Parties.

3. Any issue concerning the interpretation or the application of this Agreement shall be solved by the Joint Committee.

II. PASSENGER TRANSPORT

Article 5

Authorization

All transport operations by passenger motor vehicles between the territories of the Contracting Parties and in transit through them, except those specified in Article 7.2, must have the respective authorization issued by the competent authority of the Host country.

Article 6

Regular and shuttle services

1. Regular and shuttle services between the territories of the Contracting Parties or in transit through them shall be approved jointly by their competent authorities in advance.

2. The term "regular service" means passenger transport along routes and according to schedules agreed in advance and whereby passengers may enter or exit the vehicle at predetermined stops. These regular services shall be established on reciprocity basis. Each competent authority shall issue the permits for the section of the itinerary operated in its territory.

3. Shuttle services are services whereby, by means of repeated outward and return journeys, groups of passengers assembled in advance are carried from a single place of departure to a single place of destination. These groups, made up of passengers who have completed the outward journey, are carried back to the place of departure in the course of the subsequent journey.

4. Carriers must address applications for authorizations for regular and shuttle services to the competent authority of their home country. If that competent authority approves the application, it forwards the said application to the competent authority of the host country along with a recommendation.

5. The Joint Committee should:

establish the conditions and requirements that must be fulfilled by the applications;

get the agreement of both sides of the Joint Committee before the terms stated on the applications for regular services could be modified;

define the concepts of origin and destination place on shuttle services.

Article 7

Occasional services

1. Occasional services denote services falling neither within the definition of regular service nor within the definition for shuttle service provided in article 6 of this Agreement.

2. The following occasional services carried out using vehicles registered in the territory of one Contracting Party will not require any transport permit in the territory of the Host country:

a) Round trip services, i.e. services whereby the same vehicle is used to transport the same group of passengers throughout the journey and to bring them back to the same place of departure;

b) Services on which the vehicle carries passengers during the outward journey, and is empty during the return;

c) Transit transport performed in services defined in indent a) or b).

3. Services included in point 2 must have in their vehicles a properly completed waybill containing the list of passengers, which has been signed by the carrier and stamped by the competent custom authorities.

The waybill is completed at the Home country and must be kept in the vehicle throughout the journey for which it has been issued.

4. All other services not mentioned within articles 6 and 7.2 are subject to a permit issued by the competent Authorities in accordance with national laws and regulations of the Host country.

The carrier is required to properly complete the waybill and must produce it at the request of any authorized inspecting officer.

III. GOODS TRANSPORT

Article 8

Regime of permits

1. If not otherwise provided for by the Joint Committee, carriers may, by virtue of previously obtained permits issued by the competent authority of the Host country, perform goods transport between the territories of the Contracting Parties as well as in transit through them.

2. Carriers may perform goods transport between the territories of the Host country and third countries only if they have previously obtained special permits issued by the competent authority of the Host country.

3. The permit shall be used only by the carrier to whom it is issued and shall not be transferable.

The permit must be kept in the vehicle at all times and must be produced at the request of any authorized inspecting officer.

4. The competent authorities of both Contracting Parties shall annually exchange a jointly approved number of permits for goods transport.

IV. OTHER PROVISIONS

Article 9

Cabotage

Carriers cannot perform cabotage transport in the territory of the Host country.

Article 10

Infringements

1. In the event that a carrier or the staff on board of a vehicle registered in one Contracting Party have not observed the legislation in force on the territory of the Host country, or the provisions of this Agreement or the conditions mentioned in the permit, the Competent Authority of the country where the vehicle is regstered could, at the demand of the Competent Authority of the other Contracting Party, take the following measures:

a) to issue a warning for the carrier who committed the infringement;

b) to cancel or to temporarily withdraw the permits allowing the carrier to perform transports in the territory of the Contracting Party where the infringement was committed.

2. The competent authority which has adopted such a measure shall notify it to the competent authority of the Host country which had proposed it.

3. The provisions of this Article shall not exclude the lawful sanctions which may be applied by the courts or administration authorities of the country where the infringement happened.

Article 11

Taxation

1. Vehicles which are registered in the territory of one Contracting Party and are temporarily imported into the territory of the other Contracting Party to perform transport services in accordance with this Agreement shall be exempt, according to the reciprocity principle, from the levy of road use and traffic taxes.

2. However, this exemption shall not apply to the payment of road tolls, bridge tolls and other similar charges, which shall always be required on the basis of the principle of non discrimination.

3. On the vehicles mentioned in the paragraph 1 of this Article customs duties shall be exempted on:

a) the vehicles;

b) the fuel contained in the ordinary supply tanks of the vehicles;

c) spare parts imported into the territory of the other Contracting Party, intended for the breakdown service of a vehicle. Replaced parts shall be re-exported or destroyed.

Article 12

Dangerous goods

When transporting dangerous goods internationally, carriers who are registered in the territories of either of the two countries must comply with the provisions of the European Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by road (ADR).

Article 13

Weights and dimensions

1. With respect to the weights and dimensions of vehicles, each Contracting Party undertakes not to impose on vehicles registered in the territory of the other Contracting Party conditions which are more restricted than those imposed on vehicles registered within its own territory.

2. If weights and dimensions used in transport operations exceed the maximum permissible limits being in force in the territory of the Host country, a special permit issued by the competent authority of that country is needed.

The carrier should fully comply with the requirements specified in such permit.

Article 14

Both Contracting Parties shall respect the provisions arising from any agreement concluded with the European Community or stemming from the membership thereof of any Contracting Party.

Article 15

Entry into force and duration

1. This Agreement shall be provisionally applied from the date of its signature and shall come into force on the date of the last diplomatic Note by which the Contracting Parties notify each other that their respective constitutional requirements have been fulfilled.

2. This Agreement shall remain in force unless it is terminated through diplomatic channels by one of the Contracting Parties. In that case, the termination of the Agreement shall take effect six months after the other Contracting Party has been notified about it.

In witness whereof, the undersigned being duly authorized thereto by their respective Governments, have signed the present Agreement.

Done in two originals at Riga, this 26 of June, 1995 each in the Latvian, Spanish and English languages, each text being equally authentic. In case of divergence of interpretation the English text shall prevail.

For the Republic of Latvia

For the Kingdom of Spain