Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 section 1G

EU certificates of conformity and UK approval certificates

Section 1G defines two key terms used throughout Part 1 of Schedule 1 of the Act: "EU certificate of conformity" and "UK approval certificate", which are relevant when determining a vehicle's tax band and registration status.

• An "EU certificate of conformity" is a certificate of conformity issued under any of three EU legislative instruments covering vehicle type-approval (Directive 70/156/EEC, Directive 2007/46/EC, or Regulation (EU) 2018/858).
• A "UK approval certificate" covers certificates issued under section 58 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (for Great Britain) or Article 31A of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 (for Northern Ireland).
• A "UK approval certificate" also includes any other UK-issued certificate or document on the basis of which a vehicle is first registered, provided it is not an EC certificate of conformity.
• These definitions are important because the type of certificate a vehicle holds can affect how its CO2 emissions figure is determined, which in turn dictates the applicable vehicle excise duty rate.