I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
The purpose of the Bill is to provide the legislative framework for implementing ATP — the Agreement on the International Carriage of Perishable Foodstuffs and on the Special Equipment to be Used for such Carriage — and of a Multilateral Agreement under Article 7 of ATP concerning carriage in thin-walled vehicles to and from Italy. As both Agreements would involve a charge on public funds by their specific obligations as regards enforcement, Dáil approval of the terms of the Agreements is required by Article 29.5 of the Constitution before the State can accede to the Agreements. That is why the two motions are before the House in addition to the Bill.
The Bill may be summarised as providing the necessary framework for applying the detailed technical requirements of the Agreements — by enabling the Minister for Tourism and Transport to make regulations from time to time for the purposes of specifying those requirements as they are developing in line with developments in food and equipment technologies — and by making appropriate provision for enforcement, as specifically required by the Agreements. The necessary regulations will be devised in close consultation with the other Departments and interests concerned and will be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas which will have power, under section 14 of the Bill, to annul the regulations if they should consider it necessary to do so. The comprehensive explanatory and financial memorandum which was circulated with the Bill gives the general background to the Bill and a commentary on its provisions. All I need add to that is to emphasise that the Bill and regulations to be made under it are not intended to — nor should they — give rise to extra costs for Irish hauliers or producers and to put on the record of the House my resolve to ensure that the Bill is cost-effectively enforced and that proper export activity is not disrupted.
Why is the Bill needed? Indeed, on the general level, one must ask why hauliers and producers of perishable foodstuffs need to be reminded by national and international law to operate to acceptable standards. Commonsense and economic survival would dictate the observance of the highest possible standards at all stages from production to final destination. Unfortunately, experience has proved the need for law to be enacted to set minimum standards. This serves primarily as a warning to those persons who might otherwise be careless, but should not, of course, lead to any complacency on the part of any other persons.
Having received complaints about the off-condition of Irish perishable foodstuffs on arrival in export markets, particularly meat, the Transport Consultative Commission, in their 1981 Report on Road Freight Haulage, recommended that the State should accede to ATP as soon as possible and effectively enforce it, in order to ensure that Irish refrigerated vehicles are maintained to internationally acceptable standards and that they are not delayed or refused admission at frontiers. It is earnestly to be hoped that Irish international hauliers have fully taken the Commission's message to heart, a message which a few months ago I had the opportunity to reconvey to many of them at the annual general meeting of a representative body of theirs.
Our exports of perishable foodstuffs now exceed £1,000 million a year. Not only do we need to safeguard that level of exports but the Government's Programme for National Recovery calls for vigorous development of our exports so as to create worthwhile employment opportunities for our people. Hauliers have a vital role to play in all this, particularly in moving time-sensitive food exports speedily. If there is any departure from the highest standards, valuable orders will be lost, never to be regained. If Irish hauliers maintain their equipment to the best standards they can help to maximise our exports and secure new international business, thereby making a valuable contribution to regenerating our economy.
I might mention that the Transport Consultative Commission's 1981 report also drew attention to the benefits of haulage vehicles having temperature recorders — thermographs — so as to monitor the temperature of foodstuffs in transit. While neither the Bill nor ATP — nor any other international agreement — requires the installation of such recorders, hauliers would be well advised to consider having them installed for their own protection, particularly on long journeys. Of course, I fully recognise that, irrespective of the standard of carriage, the quality of the foodstuffs at loading would always be the crucial factor in determining whether the foodstuffs reach the market-place in the top condition which the customers are entitled to expect.
Returning to the Bill itself, it is clear that legislation is needed to give a legal basis for the examination or testing of transport equipment for compliance with ATP requirements, and for the certification of equipment complying with those requirements, and for effective enforcement. Without legislation, Irish certificates of compliance are potentially open to challenge by any one of the other 20 European states which are ATP contracting states, with consequential risk of hauliers being delayed or refused entry at international frontiers. So far, no problems of this kind have been encountered and it is in the national interest that the necessary legislation be in place at the earliest possible date.
As regards accession to ATP, Article 11 of ATP provides that accession by a state will not take place until one year has elapsed after that state has deposited its instrument of accession with the United Nations, which is the parent body of the Economic Commission for Europe which is responsible for monitoring and developing ATP. Ireland's instrument of accession cannot be deposited until Dáil Éireann has approved the terms of ATP and the Bill has been enacted, hence the need for early Dáil approval in both cases.
Ireland must first become an ATP contracting state before it can accede to the multilateral agreement concerning carriage in thin-walled vehicles to and from Italy. The Bill is so framed as to enable Ireland to implement the multilateral agreement but its terms must also be approved by Dáil Éireann before Ireland can accede to it. Thus, with the co-operation of both Houses of the Oireachtas, Ireland should be in a position to accede to both ATP and the multilateral agreement in just a year from now. In the meantime, Ireland will continue present administrative arrangements for implementing both Agreements but will be making the necessary preparations to have any required revised arrangements ready for putting in place at latest when Ireland's accession to ATP and the multilateral agreement takes effect.
I therefore commend the Bill and the two motions to the House.