New powers gained under the Road Safety Act 2006 will see The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) in Northern Ireland step up the enforcement effort against number plate suppliers who break the law in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
DVLA and DVA are calling on all number plate suppliers in Scotland and Northern Ireland to register with the Agencies before 1st November 2008. Those who continue to supply a number plate after that date without being registered risk a fine of up to £5,000 and/or suspension from the register. This follows the extension to Scotland and Northern Ireland of regulations governing the supply of number plates, which previously only applied in England and Wales.
From 1st November 2008, number plate suppliers in Scotland and Northern Ireland must request and record specific documentation (such as vehicle registration certificates (V5C/V5CNI) and a driving licence) from customers before supplying number plates. Failure to do so will constitute an offence. Suppliers must keep these records for three years following a sale. In the event of a conviction, a court may impose a fine of up to £1,000 and/or suspend a supplier for up to five years from the register if they fail to comply with the requirements of the scheme.
The Register of Number Plate Suppliers (RNPS) regulations were originally introduced in England and Wales in January 2003. This is to tackle vehicle-related crimes and reduce the sale and use of ‘cloned’ or ‘ringed’ vehicles as well as the use of number plates that do not conform to the necessary legal requirements.
While it is already an offence across the UK for motorists to display non-compliant number plates on their vehicles, as of 1st November 2008 it will become an offence to supply number plates that do not comply with the Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001. Some number plate suppliers already advise their customers that non-compliant number plates cannot be used on the road and are for display purposes only, however, it will now be an offence to supply non-compliant number plates irrespective of any advice given.
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Registration of number plate suppliers to be extended to Scotland and Northern Ireland
................Sam
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