National Type Approval Schemes: Introduction of EURO 6 Emission Standards for Heavy Commercial Vehicles

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Introduction of Euro VI emissions standards for nationally approved Heavy Commercial Vehicles (Goods vehicles with EU classification N2 & N3 and Passenger Vehicles with EU classification M2 & M3).

The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, has signed regulations, which introduce Euro VI emission limits for all nationally type approved heavy commercial vehicles (HCVs).  National type approval schemes in Ireland include the National Small Series Type Approval scheme (NSSTA) and Individual Vehicle Approval scheme (IVA).

The Regulations give effect to the Minister’s (previously communicated) decision to provide a two-stage implementation timeframe for the introduction of Euro VI standards for nationally type approved HCVs as follows;

  1. From 1 July 2017 onwards it will only be possible for manufacturers to issue an incomplete or a complete Certificate of Conformity (CoC) on NSSTA for a HCV that is Euro VI compliant. Furthermore, the NSAI will only issue incomplete IVA Certificates for HCVs that are Euro VI compliant after this date.
  2. From 1 January 2018 onwards it will only possible for a manufacturer to issue a completed CoC on NSSTAs that are Euro VI compliant. Furthermore, the NSAI will only grant IVA Certificates for HCVs that are Euro VI compliant after this date.

In addition to the new Euro VI requirements, the 2017 regulations also include provisions that take account of recent advances in vehicle safety, and in particular concerning standards for hydrogen fuelled vehicles, electric vehicles, Advanced Emergency Braking Systems (AEBS) and Lane Departure Warning Systems (LDWS).

The  Framework Directive (2007/46/EC) (PDF) was negotiated over several years and extended the scope of type approval (at various implementation dates) from passenger cars to include all other motor vehicle categories including:
• vans
• minibuses
• buses
• coaches
• heavy goods vehicles
• caravans
• light and heavy trailers
• horseboxes

Since October 29th 2014, all new vehicles (including trailers but excluding agricultural vehicles) require type approval certification in order to be sold or registered in Ireland or any EU Member State.