Administration of Road Transport

The Ministry of Transport in terms of the Road Transport Department has delegated a wide range of its responsibilities to the Administration of Road Transport which, similar to such type of agencies in Europe and in the world, acts as an independent legal entity with the purpose of providing state services for the people involved in the road transport industry.

The range of services can be divided into three large groups:

licensing of commercial transport by road in accordance with the requirements of the EU Directives;
application of the international permit system under the cover of provisions of international bilateral agreements of transport by road;
control services.

Licensing

As a result of application of licensing in the field of road transport, based on European standards, in the Republic of Latvia 5167 licenses are operating commercial road carriers who in accordance with their type of activity can be subdivided as follows (as to 01.01.1998.):

International road haulage operators	3119
- vehicle units	7039
International bus passenger transport operators	727
- vehicle units	822
Domestic road haulage operators	1065
- vehicle units	2517
Domestic bus passenger transport operators	256
- vehicle units	830

With the goal of integrating into Europe and in accordance with the requirements of the EU Directives, the legal acts of the Republic of Latvia set out for carriers,

willing to engage in the road transport industry, the following requirements:

good repute;
appropriate financial standing;
respective professional competence.

The Administration carriers out the licensing under the motto "Only well prepared road carriers and road vehicles on the market".

International road transport

With reference to the intergovernmental agreements on international goods transport by road, the Administration of Road Transport provides service connected with distribution of international goods transport permits to Latvian hauliers in order to operate in 30 different countries.

The increase in number of permits distributed on a yearly basis is as follows:

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Control

The control service provided by the Administration is also of high importance and it includes the following road transport related legal aspects:

compliance with the regulations on passenger and goods transport
compliance with the regulations on road transport licensing and with the provisions of international agreements;
compliance with the driving and rest hours.

The quality of commercial road transport services and existence of prompt and effective controls are the key factors for the improvement of road transport quality which will facilitate integration of road transport services in to the international market.