Replacement of the Motor Vehicle Standards Act (MVSA) with the Road Vehicle Standards Act (RVSA) will have significant impacts on the heavy vehicle industry.
The first phase of the transition to the Motor Vehicle Standards Act finished on 31 December with the end of the opt in period for conversion of Identity Plate Approvals (IPAs) issued under the Motor Vehicle Standards Act to Vehicle Type Approvals (VTAs). Existing IPA holders can continue to produce vehicles under their IPAs until 30 June 2022 but must have a VTA in place for all vehicles manufactured from 1 July 2022. From 1 January 2022 VTA’s can only be obtained by completing a new VTA application.
The key impacts of this legislation are:
- New requirements for obtaining approval to deliver vehicles into the Australian market including:
- Replacement of Identification Plate Approvals (IPAs) under the MVSA with Type approvals under the RVSA
- Replacement of Component Registration Numbers (CRNs) and Sub assembly Registration Numbers (SARNs) with Component Type Approvals
- Revised procedures around Testing Facilities
- Replacement of the Road Vehicle Compliance System with a new computer application ROVER
- The introduction of a Register of Authorised Vehicles which will be a publicly accessible database containing similar data to that put on the current compliance plate along with a requirement that all road vehicles supplied to consumers will require a RAV entry before they can be registered
- Revision to the Special and Enthusiast vehicle and other concessional schemes
- Revisions to fees and penalties under the legislation.
- Provisions for recalls of heavy vehicles and components
Next steps: The transition period will end on 30 June 2022, and the new legislation will be fully operational from 1 July 2022.
Please Contact HVIA’s National Manager Policy and Government Relations, Greg Forbes g.forbes@hvia.asn.au 0437923755 for further information.
In December 2018 the Commonwealth Parliament passed legislation to replace the MVSA with the RVSA. The original date for this legislation to take effect was 10 December 2019.
As part of the consultation process HVIA has expressed concern over the impact of the legislation on industry.
In early July 2019, at the request of HVIA and other industry bodies, the Government introduced a Bill into Parliament to delay the implementation date.
The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development (The Department) is expecting that the Bill will go through the Parliament in July.
Now that the Bill has gone through Parliament, the RVSA will come into effect some time before 1 July 2021 at a date to be set by proclamation.
The key impacts of this legislation are:
- New requirements for obtaining approval to deliver vehicles into the Australian market including:
- Replacement of Identification Plate Approvals (IPAs) under the MVSA with Type approvals under the RVSA
- A requirement for existing IPA holders to migrate their IPAs to Type Approvals within the first 6 months after the implementation date.
- Replacement of Component Registration Numbers (CRNs) and Sub assembly Registration Numbers (SARNs) with Component Type Approvals
- Revised procedures around Testing Facilities
- The introduction of a Register of Authorised Vehicles which will be a publicly assessible database containing similar data to that put on the current compliance plate along with a requirement that all road vehicles supplied to consumers will require a RAV entry before they can be registered
- Revision to the Special and Enthusiast vehicle and other concessional schemes
- Revisions to fees and penalties under the legislation.
- Provisions for recalls of heavy vehicles and components
The current Motor Vehicle Standards Act (MVSA) will be replaced with the Road Vehicle Safety Act (RVSA) over the next two years.
The legislation was passed by the Parliament in late 2018 and the rules were published in early 2019. The original implementation date for this legislation was 10 December 2019.
In June 2019 HVIA wrote to the Department expressing concern over the proposed timetables in the legislation and the problems both the Department and industry would have in meeting these timelines.
In response in early July 2019, the Government introduced a Bill into Parliament to delay the implementation date.
The exact timing of the legislation will be set by proclamation but must be before July 2021.
This change in the legislation will have substantial impacts on the heavy vehicle industry and it is important that HVIA members have an understanding of the impact of the legislation on their business.
The key areas where the new legislation will have an impact are:
- All manufacturers or importers who currently are required to fit compliance plates to vehicles will also need to load the information currently on the compliance plate into the new Register of Approved Vehicles. The Department has published a guide to the data formats that the information needs to comply with along with processes for loading the data. (see here)
- Manufacturers/importers will need to have systems in place to load the data into the RAV by 10 December 2019 or the vehicles they produce will not be able to be registered.
- Manufacturers/ Importers will need to convert any approvals they currently have under the MVSA to approvals under the RVSA. The process for undertaking this will commence on the implementation date (10 December 2019 or such later date as is proclaimed) and Manufacturers/importers will have 6 months to “opt in”. This will allow these vehicles to continue to be produced for another 5 years with the ability to extend for another 7 years. The Department of Infrastructure has published a discussion paper on the opt in process. (See here)
- Manufacturers who have vehicle models approved under the MVSA but do not convert their approvals to the new legislation will only be able to continue to produce them until 12 months after the implementation date if they do not opt in.
- Any new models of vehicle introduced after the implementation date will need to comply with the new legislative requirements of the RVSA. The Department has produced a discussion paper providing an overview of the type approvals process. (See here)
- All Component Registration Numbers (CRNs) and Sub Assembly Registration Numbers (SARNs) will also need to be converted across the Component Type Approvals. These conversions will need to happen before new vehicle models can be approved. So far, the Department has only provided limited information on how this process will work.
- HVIA is concerned that the processes for conversion of SARNs and CRNS may be expensive and may cause delays in getting new vehicle models approved. Current discussions with the department indicate that substantial retesting of components may be required.
- HVIA is working with the Department of Infrastructure to cost the proposed changes and look for ways to minimise testing and reduce the cost to industry.
- There are also changes proposed to the rules for concessional vehicles such as specialist and enthusiast vehicles.
- Procedures around body fitment, modification of imported vehicles to comply with the ADR and inspection of these vehicles will also change.
Details of how all of these changes will happen are the subject of an ongoing consultative process with the Department of Infrastructure and need to be progressively finalised by December this year.
At this stage there are significant gaps in the forms and guidance materials available on how most of these changes will work in practice.
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READ MOREPlease Contact HVIA’s National Manager Policy and Government Relations, Greg Forbes g.forbes@hvia.asn.au 0437923755 for further information.