Contractors undertaking work with a tractor that is used mainly for agriculture, forestry, horticulture or fishery activities look set to be exempt from an NCT-style of tractor testing.

“We’ve been getting positive signals from the Department of Transport that they’ve accepted our position that contractors mainly using tractors for agriculture, forestry, horticulture or fishery should be exempt,” chair of the IFA environment and rural affairs committee, Thomas Cooney told the Irish Farmers Journal.

“We’re still in the draft stage, but we understand that the Statutory Instrument (SI) is going to be written in the next couple of weeks.”

Tractor testing uproar

Last year, the Minister for Transport Shane Ross, caused uproar among the farming community when he signed into law an SI that would have seen mandatory testing introduced for all tractors rated to travel in excess of 40km/h, operating within a 25km radius of their base.

The proposed plan was shelved after fierce opposition from farmers and farm organisations.

However, some form of tractor testing must be introduced this year as based on an EU directive that must be brought into law within member states.

New rules

It’s understood that the current draft version set to be introduced will drop the 25km distance limit and only apply to tractors whose main body of work is outside the area of agriculture, and can drive at speeds in excess of 40km/h.

The Department of Transport is yet to confirm the exact details of the upcoming SI, but they have stated that the draft transposition is currently with the Department’s legal advisor.

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