Clarity in relation to the road-worthiness testing of ‘fast’ tractors has been called for by the Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland (FCI).

The association is calling on the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross, to clarify the issues around the definition of agricultural, forestry, horticultural, farming or fisheries activities.

These clarifications are needed to clear up any misunderstandings in relation to a new Statutory Instrument (SI) – SI 117 2018 – which requires tractors capable of speeds in excess of 40kph to be tested for road-worthiness.

The FCI claims that the SI was signed into law last Friday (April 13), without any final consultation from stakeholders.

Also Read: Tractor test rules signed off ‘without final consultation’ from stakeholders

The creation of this SI stems from an EU directive which is set to come into play on May 20, 2018.

The FCI believes that the areas which require clarification include:
  • Land drainage and land rehabilitation activities, including farm road construction;
  • Turf or peat harvesting;
  • Timber and woodchip harvesting, as well as the travel of machines to and from a forest location;
  • Hedgerow and verge-side management activities;
  • The transport of animal feed products that are derived from food and beverage industry activities;
  • The transport and spreading of waste products that act as a fertiliser for farming crops;
  • Agricultural-based activities that are connected with the biomass and biogas industries.

Face-to-face meeting

Despite assurances from department officials, the FCI claims that it was not given an opportunity to discuss this SI proposal prior to its publication – something that was reportedly agreed upon at the previous stakeholder meeting.

Commenting on the matter, the national chairman of the FCI, Richard White, said: “While the officials of the Department of Transport may feel that they have addressed all of the concerns of members of the FCI, we don’t know how they can be so sure of that when they have refused to provide us with the opportunity of a face-to-face meeting to discuss any concerns and seek clarifications.

We remain determined to seek the much-promised meeting, so that they can take some time to answer any outstanding questions from our FCI members.

“Even at this late stage we are seeking a meeting with officials from the Department of Transport in order to get absolute clarity on the position of farm and forestry contractors as they strive to plan the future of their businesses, which are almost exclusively based on providing modern and efficient mechanisation services to Irish agriculture and the rural economy of Ireland.”

‘An unclear situation’

Meanwhile, the FCI also claimed that “the issue of the agricultural tractor being used for agricultural work is considered as an annex in the explanatory note of the SI and it states that this is not part of the SI nor is it considered to be a legal interpretation”.

The association believes that this continues to be an unclear situation for many contractors who provide a variety of services to Irish agriculture and the rural economy.