Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Latvia and the Government of the Czech Republic on the International Road Transport

The Government of the Republic of Latvia and the Government of the Czech Republic, hereinafter called the Contracting Parties,

Desiring to promote the mutually advantageous development of commercial and economic relations and to facilitate and regulate the international road transport of passengers and goods between and in transit through their countries,

Have agreed as follows:

Article 1

1. The provisions of this Agreement shall apply to the international road transport of passengers and goods for hire or reward or own account between the Republic of Latvia and the Czech Republic and in transit through either country carried out by the carriers of both the Contracting Parties who are entitled to it according to the national laws and regulations of the respective country with the vehicles that are registered in this country.

2. The present Agreement does not affect the rights and obligations of each Contracting Party resulting from the provisions of other international agreements in force for either Contracting Party.

PASSENGER TRANSPORT

Article 2

1. The passenger transport according to this Agreement is the transport of persons and their luggage by buses. It includes also unladen journeys of the buses concerned with these services.

2. The term “bus” shall mean a road motor vehicle intended for the transport of persons which has, in addition to the driver's seat, more than eight sitting places.

Article 3

1. The term “regular bus services” shall mean a service where the journeys are carried out according to the beforehand agreed itinerary, time-table and fares tariff, passengers being taken up and set down at the beforehand agreed stopping points en route.

2. Any regular bus services between the countries of the Contracting Parties as well as in transit through their territories shall be authorized, in mutual agreement, by the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties according to the national laws and regulations of each Contracting Party. The competent authority of each Contracting Party shall grant a permission for the section of the regular bus service on the territory of the Contracting Party.

3. The application for a permission is to be presented to the competent authority of the Contracting Party where the applicant's undertaking is established or for the physical person where his domicile is and in whose country the vehicles are registered.

4. The application according to paragraph 3 of this Article shall include the following data:

a) the carrier's name as well as his full business address and for the physical person his full domicile address;

b) the kind of transport;

c) the required period of validity of the permission;

d) the period of operation and the number of journeys (e.g., daily, weekly);

e) the time-table;

f) the itinerary of the service indicating all stations for taking up and setting down of passengers as well as border crossings;

g) the length of route in kilometers (for the outward and the return journey);

h) the time of driving and rest of drivers;

i) the fare and tariff conditions.

5. The competent authority of the Contracting Party shall transmit the application with all the prescribed data and with its opinion to the competent authority of the other Contracting Party.

6. A granted permit shall be valid for a maximum period of five years and its validity may be extended on the request of the carrier.

Article 4

1. The “shuttle service” shall mean a transport service on which pre-formed groups of passengers are carried by several journeys to and back, from the same area of departure to the same area of destination. The same groups of passengers which have been carried to the area of destination shall be later on carried back to the original area of departure. The area of departure and the area of destination shall mean the place of starting a journey and the place of destination respectively as well as the places situated up to 50 kms from them. The shuttle service shall include, in addition to the proper transport operations, an accommodation of the group of passengers in the place of destination. The first journey back and the last journey to shall be unladen.

2. Every shuttle service shall be authorized by the competent authority of the other Contracting Party. The application for a permission is to be presented by the applicant directly to the competent authority of the other Contracting Party. It must be presented at the latest 30 days prior to the required date of starting of the shuttle service.

3. The application for a permission according to paragraph 2 of this Article shall include the carrier's name and his full business address and for the physical person his full domicile address, the number of journeys, the date of each of them and their itinerary, the registration numbers of all the buses to be used for the shuttle service in question, and the letter of confirmation concerning the place of accommodation and the stay duration of passengers at the place of destination.

4. The Joint Committee established according to Article 12 of this Agreement may agree in case of necessity upon the detailed licensing procedure, forms to be used and other issues related to that.

Article 5

1. The “occasional passenger transport” shall mean all the transport operations other than those referred to in Articles 3 and 4 of this Agreement.

2. The occasional passenger transport between the two countries or in transit through their territories carrying the same group of passengers shall require no permission if:

a) a round trip begins and is intended to end in the country of registration of the vehicle providing that the group of passengers is brought back to the place of departure (closed door tour) by the same vehicle;

b) a journey with passengers starts at a place in the country of registration of the vehicle and ends in the territory of the other Contracting Party or any other country providing that the vehicle returns empty to the country of registration;

c) an outward journey is made unladen provided that all the passengers are taken up in the same place where they have been previously brought by the same carrier on a service referred to in paragraph b) above, and are carried back into the country where the vehicle is registered.

3. The occasional passenger transport which does not meet the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article is subject to a permission of the competent authority of the other Contracting Party in accordance with the national laws and regulations in force in its territory.

4. The Joint Committee mentioned in Article 12 of this Agreement may agree upon a document for the occasional passenger transport and other issues related to this service.

GOODS TRANSPORT

Article 6

1. A carrier of one Contracting Party shall have a permit in order to engage in the international carriage of goods by road between the two countries, in transit through the territory of the country of the other Contracting Party or delivering goods to and from third countries if not otherwise provided by the Joint Committee mentioned in Article 12 of this Agreement.

A single permit shall authorize a carrier of one country to make one round journey.

2. A permit shall be used only by the carrier to whom it is issued. It shall be valid for the use of a single motor vehicle or a coupled combination of vehicles (articulated vehicle or road train), without regard which is the country of registration of an accompanying semitrailer or trailer.

3. Nothing in this Agreement shall be held to permit a carrier of one Contracting Party to carry goods between any two points in the territory of the other Contracting Party. For such a carriage, a special permission shall be required.

Article 7

1. The permits referred to in Article 6 of this Agreement shall not be required for the:

a) carriage of goods in motor vehicles whose permitted gross laden weight, including trailers, does not exceed 6 tonnes, or when the permitted payload, including trailers, does not exceed 3,5 tonnes;

b) removals carriage performed by special vehicles which have been constructed and equipped for this purpose;

c) carriage of objects and equipment for theatrical, film, circus or musical performances or sporting events, exhibitions or fairs, or for making of radio or television broadcasts or films, provided that these objects and equipment are imported or exported temporarily;

d) funeral transport;

e) carriage of goods to or from airports, in cases when air services are diverted;

f) carriage of mails;

g) carriage of vehicles which are damaged or have broken down;

h) carriage of humanitarian supplies needed for emergencies, notably in the event of natural disasters;

i) carriage of live animals in special vehicles;

j) carriage of bees and fish fry;

k) unladen run of a relief vehicle used for transporting goods sent to replace a vehicle which has broken down in another country and continuation of the carriage by the relief vehicle under cover of the permit issued for the vehicle which has broken down;

l) maintenance and service vehicles providing assistance to broken down or damaged vehicles;

m) carriage following the combined transport by which the road network will be used in the range settled by the Joint Committee established according to Article 12 of this Agreement;

2. A driver of the vehicle performing any of the transport operations listed in paragraph 1 of this Article shall have all necessary documents clearly indicating that the transport is justified by any of provisions stated in this paragraph.

Article 8

1. Permits according to Article 6 of this Agreement will:

a) be granted to Latvian carriers, for vehicles registered in the Republic of Latvia, by the Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic and issued by and at the discretion of the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Latvia or any authority appointed by it;

b) be granted to Czech carriers, for vehicles registered in the Czech Republic, by the Ministry of Transport of Latvia and issued by and at the discretion of the Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic or any authority appointed by it.

2. For this purpose the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall exchange the necessary forms of blank permits.

3. The Joint Committee in accordance with Article 12 of this Agreement shall agree upon the annual quota and kind of permits for each Contracting Party with regard to the development of economic relations and the needs of the foreign trade of both the Contracting Parties.

4. The Joint Committee in accordance with Article 12 of this Agreement shall agree upon the contents and the model of particular kinds of permit.

Article 9

1. As regards the weight and dimensions of vehicles, each Contracting Party undertakes not to impose on vehicles registered in the country of the other Contracting Party conditions which are more restrictive than those imposed on vehicles registered in its own country.

2. If the weight or dimensions of a vehicle or combination of vehicles registered in the territory of the country of one Contracting Party, performing the transport operation exceed the permissible maximum in the country of the other Contracting Party, special authorization must be obtained from the competent authority in that Contracting Party before the carriage is undertaken.

3. The carriers of both the Contracting Parties shall when performing carriages of dangerous goods observe the provisions of the European Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR).

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 10

1. Subject to the provisions of this Agreement carriers of either Contracting Party and the crews of their vehicles shall, when in the territory of the country of the other Contracting Party, comply with the laws and regulations in force in that country.

2. Permits and other necessary documents required in accordance with this Agreement shall be carried on the vehicles to which they relate and produced on demand of any authority respectively authorized to check them.

3. In the event of serious or repeated infringement of the provisions of this Agreement as well as laws and regulations in force in the other country by a carrier or a crew of his vehicle, the competent authority of the country in which the vehicle is registered on demand of the competent authority of the country in which the infringement occurred may decide:

a) to issue a warning to the carrier, or

b) to suspend for a time, partially or completely, the authorization of the carrier to perform transport operations in the territory of the other Contracting Party.

4. The competent authority having taken any of the measures mentioned in paragraph 3 of this Article shall inform on it the competent authority of the other Contracting Party.

5. The provisions of this Article shall be without prejudice to any lawful sanctions which may be applied in accordance with the laws and regulations of the country in which the infringement occurred.

Article 11

1. Vehicles which are registered in the territory of the country of one Contracting Party and are temporarily imported into the territory of the country of the other Contracting Party to perform goods transport operations within the quota of permits according to Article 8 and carriages referred to in Article 7 or passenger services in accordance with this Agreement shall be exempted, on the reciprocity principle, from taxes and charges levied on road use and transport operations.

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. With regard to the vehicles mentioned in paragraph 1 of this Article, from customs duties shall be exempted:

a) vehicles as such;

b) fuel contained in the standard, by the manufacturer build-in fixed tanks of the vehicles;

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

Article 12

1. Representatives of the competent authorities of both the Contracting Parties shall form a Joint Committee to ensure the satisfactory implementation of the Agreement. The Joint Committee shall meet at the request of either competent authority alternately in the countries of the Contracting Parties.

2. For the purpose of this Agreement the competent authorities shall be:

• in the Republic of Latvia — the Ministry of Transport;

• in the Czech Republic — the Ministry of Transport.

Article 13

1. This Agreement is subject to approval in accordance with the laws and regulations in force in the countries of the Contracting Parties and shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after the exchange of diplomatic notes between the Contracting Parties notifying this approval. By the day of the exchange of notes is meant the date of the later note.

2. The Agreement shall remain in force unless it is terminated by either Contracting Party giving six months written notice thereof to the other Contracting Party.

Done at Budapest on May 29, 1996 in two originals, both in the Latvian, Czech and English language, which are equally authentic and have equal legal force. In case of a controversial point the text of the English language shall prevail.

For the Government For the Government

of the Republic of Latvia of the Czech Republic