Agreement between the Republic of Latvia and the Portuguese Republic Concerning the International Transport of Passengers and Goods by Road

 

The Republic of Latvia and the Portuguese Republic, hereinafter referred to as the "Contracting Parties";

wishing to contribute to the development of the transport of passengers and goods by road between the two countries, as well as in transit through their territories;

taking into account the need to establish at an European level a policy directed towards the progressive liberalization of transport services, in connection with harmonization of competition conditions, environmental protection and safety in road traffic;

Have agreed as follows:

I INTRODUCTORY PROVISIONS

Article 1

Scope

Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 2 of article 7, this Agreement entitles carriers established in either Contracting Party to transport passengers or goods by road between the territories of the Contracting Parties or in transit through them.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purpose of this Agreement:

a) a "carrier" is any physical or juridical person duly authorized either in the Republic of Latvia or in the Portuguese Republic:

1) to engage in the international transport of passengers or goods by road for hire or reward;

2) to perform transport on his own account;

b) a "vehicle" is:

1) in the case of transport of passengers, any motor vehicle intended for carriage of passengers with more than 9 seats - including the driver's seat - as well as trailers for transport of passenger luggage, provided that the trailer is registered in the same Contracting Party as the motor vehicle;

2) in the case of transport of goods, any lorry, tractor, trailer or semi-trailer, as well as any articulated vehicle or a combination of lorry and trailer, provided that at least the motor vehicle is registered in the territory of either Contracting Party;

c) "transit" is the transport performed by a carrier established in one of the Contracting Parties through the territory of the other Contracting Party without taking or leaving there any passengers or goods.

II TRANSPORT OF PASSENGERS

Article 3

Types of Services

1) The transport services of passengers to be performed under the provisions of this Agreement may be:

a) regular services;

b) shuttle services;

c) occasional services.

2. "Regular services" are services which provide for the carriage of passengers on specified routes, according to previously determined itinerary, schedule, fares and stopping points for collecting and setting down passengers.

3. "Shuttle services" are services whereby, by means of several outward and return journeys, groups of passengers assembled in advance are carried from the same area of departure to the same area of destination.

"Area of departure" and "area of destination" mean respectively the place where the journey begins and the place where the journey ends, as well as, in each case, all localities within a radius of 50 kms.

Besides transport, shuttle services should include the accomodation of passengers in the area of destination for a period of at least two nights.

Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 3 b) of article 4 of this Agreement, in shuttle services:

• each group of passengers having made the outward journey together is carried back to the starting point together in a later journey;

• passengers shall not be collected or set down outside the areas of departure and destination;

• the first return journey and the last outward journey are empty runs.

4. "Occasional services" are services which do not fall within the definition of regular services nor within the definition of shuttle services.

Article 4

Regime of Authorization

1. Apart from the exceptions referred to in paragraph 1 of article 5, any passenger transport services performed under this Agreement are subject to an authorization granted by the competent authority of the other Contracting Party on the basis of reciprocity.

2. In what regards regular services:

a) the establishment of a regular service, as well as the modification of the operating conditions thereof, will be authorized by common agreement between the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties, provided that an approval is obtained from the competent authorities of the transit countries, whenever necessary;

b) an authorization granted by the competent authority of a Contracting Party will be valid only in that part of the route which is situated in the territory of the same Contracting Party;

c) in principle, the authorization for each regular service will be granted on a basis of reciprocity;

d) the term of validity of an authorization cannot exceed five years.

3. In what concerns shuttle services:

a) the term of validity of an authorization cannot exceed six months;

b) authorization may be granted to allow for:

• in a given percentage, passengers having been carried in the outward journey within a certain group to be carried in the return journey within another group;

• passengers to be taken or set down at a maximum of three places outside the areas of departure and three places outside the area of destination.

Article 5

Transport Services Exempted from Authorization

1. The following occasional services do not require authorization:

a) "closed door tours", i.e., services whereby the same vehicle carries the same group of passengers throughout the journey and brings them back to the place of departure, provided that the place of departure and destination is situated in the territory of the Contracting Party where the vehicle is registered;

b) services involving a laden journey from a place of departure situated in the territory of the Contracting Party where the vehicle is registered to a place of destination situated in the territory of the other Contracting Party, followed by an empty journey back to the place of departure;

c) services including an unladen journey entering the territory of the other Contracting Party, followed by a laden journey, provided that all passengers are picked up in the same place and:

• that they are grouped by a transport contract concluded before they enter the territory of the other Contracting Party; or

• that they have been previously carried by the same undertaking to the territory of the other Contracting Party; or

• that have been invited to come to the territory of the Contracting Party where the carrier is established, the costs of transport being at the charge of the person responsible for the invitation;

d) unladen runs of a passenger vehicle sent to replace a vehicle which has broken down in another country, in order to continue the carriage of passengers under cover of the waybill of the broken down vehicle.

2. Services exempted from authorization under the provisions of paragraph 1 of this article shall be carried out under cover of a control document to be established in the Protocol referred to in article 17 of this Agreement.

III TRANSPORT OF GOODS

Article 6

Regime of Authorization

1. Apart from the exceptions referred to in paragraph 3 of this article, the transport of goods for hire or reward or on own account performed under the provisions of this Agreement by a carrier established in the country of one of the Contracting Parties, by means of a motor vehicle registered in the same country, is subject to an authorization granted by the competent authority of the other Contracting Party.

2. The competent authorities of both Contracting Parties may agree on the following two types of authorizations:

a) journey authorizations, valid for one journey;or

b) multijourney authorizations, valid for the number of journeys indicated thereon;

the term of validity of which is from the 1st of January up to the 31st of January of the coming year.

3. The following transports are exempted from authorization:

a) transport of goods by motor vehicles whose Total Permissible Laden Weight (TPLW), including trailers, does not exceed 6 tons, or whose permitted payload, including trailers, does not exceed 3.5 tons;

b) transport of goods to or from airports, in cases where air services are diverted;

c) transport of vehicles which are damaged or have broken down and the transport of breakdown repair vehicles;

d) unladen runs by a goods vehicle sent to replace a vehicle which has broken down in another country and also the return run, after repair, of the vehicle that had broken down;

e) transport of spare parts and provisions for ocean-going ships and aircraft;

f) transport of medical supplies and equipment needed for emergencies, particularly in response to natural disasters;

g) transport of works and objects for fairs and exhibitions;

h) transport for non commercial purposes of material, accessories and animals to or from theatrical, musical, film, sportive, circus performances or fairs, as well as transport of material intended for radio recordings or for film or television production;

i) transport of mail as public service;

j) funereal transport.

Article 7

Authorization Quotas

1. Authorizations shall be issued by the competent authority of the Contracting Party where the vehicle is registered, within the limits of the quota fixed annually by common agreement between the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties.

2. A part of the quota referred to in paragraph 1 of this article, to be fixed by common agreement between the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties, may be used by carriers established in the territory of one of the Contracting Parties to perform transports between the territory of the other Contracting Party and a third country.

IV GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 8

Cabotage

This Agreement does not entitle a carrier established in one of the Contracting Parties to collect passengers or to load goods in the territory of the other Contracting Party for transport within the same territory, except in cases where a special authorization is granted by the competent authority of the latter Contracting Party.

Article 9

Fiscal and Customs Regime

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 taxes on vehicles and transport services as well as from user charges.

2. The provision of paragraph 1 of this article does not apply to tolls related to the use of motorways, bridges and other infrastructures, which shall be levied on the basis of the principle of non discrimination.

3. In transports carried out under this Agreement the temporary admission of vehicles of one Contracting Party into the territory of the other Contracting Party is exempted from customs duties.

4. For transports carried out under this Agreement the exemption from import duties as well as other charges will be mutually granted to:

a) fuel contained in the normal tanks of the vehicles;

b) lubricants in the necessary quantity to ensure their maintenance during the journey.

5. Each Contracting Party shall allow the temporary admission, with total relief of import duties and other charges and the waving of garanty submission, of spare parts meant for repairing the vehicle performing international transport operations under the present Agreement, provided that the non used parts or those having been replaced shall be re-exported or destroyed, in accordance with the provisions in force in the territory of the respective Contracting Party.

Article 10

Weight and Dimensions of Vehicles

1. In what concerns weights and dimensions of vehicles, each Contracting Party undertakes not to submit vehicles registered in the territory of the other Contracting Party to more severe conditions than those that are imposed on vehicles registered in its own country.

2. When the weight and/or the dimensions of a vehicle exceed the maximum limits admissible in the territory of the other Contracting Party, a special authorization is required from the respective authority of the same Contracting Party.

3. The authorization referred to in paragraph 2 of this article will be granted only for the carriage of goods of abnormal weight and/or dimensions.

4. Whenever the authorization stipulates that the vehicle must use a specific itinerary, it shall be valid only for that itinerary.

Article 11

Intransferableness

Authorizations, as required under the provisions of this Agreement, are personal and intransferable. They may be used only by the carrier in whose name they have been issued.

Article 12

Sanctions

1. If a carrier or his driving personnel, when in the territory of the other Contracting Party, infringe the provisions of this Agreement or the laws and regulations applicable in that territory, the competent authority of the country where the carrier is established shall, at request of the competent authority of the other Contracting Party, adopt one of the following measures:

a) issue a warning; or

b) withdraw, on a temporary or permanent basis, partially or totally, the right to perform transports under the provisions of this Agreement in the territory of the country where the infringement has been committed.

2. The competent authority having requested the adoption of a sanction shall be informed as soon as possible about its effective adoption.

3. The provisions of this article shall apply without prejudice to any sanction provided for by the laws and regulations in force in the Contracting Party in whose territory the infringement was committed.

Article 13

Authorization and Control Document Forms

The forms for authorizations and control documents as required by this Agreement shall be established by common agreement between the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties mentioned in article 16 and in the Protocol referred to in article 17.

Article 14

Control

The authorizations - or a certified copy thereof in the case of regular passenger services - as well as any control document required under the provisions of this Agreement shall be carried inside the vehicle and be presented at request of representatives of the control authorities.

Article 15

Suppletive Provisions

The laws and regulations of both Contracting Parties shall apply in all matters that are not regulated by the provisions of this Agreement or of other international agreements which are binding for the Republic of Latvia and the Portuguese Republic.

Article 16

Competent Authorities

1. The competent authorities for implementing this Agreement are:

a) in the Republic of Latvia:

Road Transport Department

Ministry of Transport;

b) in the Portuguese Republic:

Direcčćo-Geral de Transportes Terrestres

Ministry of Equipment, Planning and Territorial Administration.

2. The competent authorities of both Contracting Parties shall contact each other directly.

Article 17

Implementation of the Agreement

1. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties referred to in paragraph 1 of article 16 shall by common agreement define the conditions for implementing this Agreement in a Protocol to be signed by them.

2. The Joint Committee mentioned in Article 18 of this Agreement is competent to modify the Protocol.

Article 18

Joint Committee

1. Representatives of the competent authorities mentioned in article 16 of this Agreement shall form a Joint Committee in order to ensure the correct implementation of this Agreement and to settle as soon as possible all unresolved issues. In case of necessity, representatives of other institutions may be invited to participate at the Joint Committee meetings.

2. At request of the competent authority of either Contracting Party, the Joint Committe shall hold its meetings alternately in the territories of both Contracting Parties.

V FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 19

Entry into Force

This Agreement shall enter into force on the date of the last notification, if all constitutional formalities required by the Contracting Parties have been complied with.

Article 20

Duration

1. This Agreement is concluded for an indefinite period of time.

2. Either Contracting Party may inform the other Contracting Party by means of diplomatic notes, at least three months before the end of each calendar year, of its intention to terminate this Agreement. In this case, the Agreement will cease to be in force from the first of January of the following year.

DONE in Warsaw, on May "20", 1999, in two originals, each in Latvian, Portuguese and English languages, all texts being equally authentic. In case of divergence of interpretation, the Englisn text of the Agreement shall prevail.

 

For the Republic of Latvia For the Portuguese Republic

Minister of Transport State secretary of the Ministry of Transport

ANATOLIJS GORBUNOVS ANTONIO GILHERMINO RODRIGES

Protocol

under article 17 on the implementation

of the Agreement between the Republic of Latvia

and the Portuguese Republic Concerning the

International Transport of Passengersand Goods by Road

 

In order to ensure the implementation of this Agreement, the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties have agreed as follows:

TRANSPORT OF PASSENGERS

1. Article 4

1.1. In what concerns regular services:

a) Requests for authorizations should be submitted to the competent authority of the Contracting Party where the carrier is established, including the following data:

• name and address of the carrier;

• itinerary, frequency and timetable of the service;

• a map, drawn on an appropriate scale, of the itinerary where the places where passengers are going to be taken and/or set down should be duly identified;

• an approximate estimate of the nature and volume of the traffic to be performed;

b) When intending to approve a request, the competent authority mentioned in a) above will send a copy thereof to the competent authority of the other Contracting Party, and to the competent authorities of the transit countries, whenever necessary;

c) A regular service is deemed to be approved as soon as both Contracting Parties have exchanged authorizations thereupon and the approval from the transit countries has been also obtained, whenever necessary.

1.2. In what concerns occasional services, requests for authorizations should be submitted to the competent authority of the Contracting Party where the carrier is established at three weeks notice, as a rule, of the date of beginning of the service. Each request should include the following data:

• name and address of the organizer of the service;

• name and address of the carrier;

• whenever possible, registration numbers of the vehicles to be used;

• itinerary, mentioning the places where passengers are to be taken and/or set down;

• dates for the beginning and the ending of the service;

• dates and places where the border of the other Contracting Party is to be crossed, both in outward and return journeys.

Each authorization shall be issued by the competent authority where the carrier is established. This authorization and the passenger waybill referred to in paragraph 5 of this Protocol should be carried on board of the vehicle.

The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall exchange annually a certain number, to be fixed by common agreement, of authorization forms for occasional services. The forms will be signed and certified by the competent authority of the country having granted the authorization.

1.3. As for shuttle services, the same provisions of 1.2. of this Protocol shall apply; requests for authorizations shall be submitted not later than six weeks prior to the commencement of the journey and should include the following data:

• duration of the service;

• number and dates of outward and return journeys for each service;

• address of hotels where passengers will stay in the area of destination;

• eventually, the percentage number of passengers which, having been carried together in a group in the outward journey, will be carried back in the return journey within another group.

The authorization shall be issued by the competent authority of the other Contracting Party after examination of the application of the competent authority of the Contracting Party of establishment of the carrier, to which the copy of the application of the carrier is attached.

TRANSPORT OF GOODS

2. Article 6

In what concerns authorizations:

a) forms will be numbered and signed by the authority competent to grant the authorization, and bear the stamp thereof;

b) each authorization shall be returned to the issuing authority in a month's period after the date of its use or after the end of its period of validity when it has not been used.

3. Article 7

In what concerns quotas:

a) before November 30 of each calender year the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties will exchange authorization forms in a total number according to the quota that has been established, on the basis of reciprocity, for the following calendar year;

b) for the first year of the period of implementation of the Agreement a quota of 500 journey authorizations is established for the hauliers of each Contracting Party, 30 per cent of which may be used by hauliers established in one of the Contracting Parties to perform transports between the territory of the other Contracting Party and a third country.

c) in case of necessity, the annual quota may be increased by common agreement between the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

4. Article 10

The special authorization required under paragraph 2 of this article shall be issued by:

a) in the Republic of Latvia

State Joint Stock Company "Road Directorate"

Gogola iela, 3

Riga, LV - 1050

Ph.: +371-7028144; +371-7028338;

Fax: +371-7028171; +371-7227818;

b) in the Portuguese Republic:

Direcčćo-Geral de Viačćo

Avenida da Republica 16 - 8o

1050 LISBOA

Ph.: +351 - 1 - 3521011

Fax: +351 - 1 - 3555670

5. Article 13

Authorization and waybill forms for occasional passenger services, as well as authorization forms for goods transport operations, are attached to this Protocol.

6. Article 14

The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall ensure extraordinary control procedures for vehicles transporting sick persons, dangerous goods or perishable foodstuffs.

DONE in Warsaw on May "20", 1999, in two originals, each in Latvian, Portuguese and English languages, all texts being equally authentic. In case of divergence of interpretation, the English text of the Protocol shall prevail.

 

For the Republic of Latvia For the Portuguese Republic

Minister of Transport State secretary of the Ministry of Transport

ANATOLIJS GORBUNOVS ANTONIO GILHERMINO RODRIGES