An objective of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) has long been a registration reciprocity agreement that would be fair to the motor transportation industry and provide a fair share of revenue to all jurisdictions.
In 1968, an AAMVA subcommittee was formed to develop a plan that would incorporate all theories of reciprocity, and attract all jurisdictions of the United States and Canada into one uniform agreement. The subcommittee, which was made up of motor vehicle administrators and transportation industry representatives, set out to draft a suitable agreement.
Two programs already in existence were studied: the Uniform Proration and Reciprocity Agreement and the Multi-State Reciprocity Agreement. Both contained some good ideas, but both had been found lacking by some jurisdictions, and neither one had provided a means of bringing all the jurisdictions together under a single plan. Portions of both agreements were used by the subcommittee as a foundation for designing the new plan. The Uniform Proration and Reciprocity Agreement contained Proration provisions that were simplified and included in the subcommittee report. Portions of the Multi-State Reciprocity Agreement, particularly the "one plate per vehicle" and the license fee distribution concepts, were also included.
The report by the subcommittee was examined at the 1971 AAMVA Vehicle Reciprocity Workshop and was referred to the subcommittee for further development. The draft agreement, "Standard Reciprocal Agreement Governing the Operation of Vehicles Between Jurisdictions," was considered at the AAMVA Annual International Conference in Wichita, Kansas, in September 1972. AAMVA went on record as endorsing the concept of proportional distribution of registration fees of interjurisdictional vehicles.
An Ad Hoc Committee for National Proportional Registration was formed at the 1972 conference, and was assigned the task of developing the proposed plan into an agreement acceptable to both industry and the licensing jurisdictions. The Committee was made up of motor vehicle administrators from AAMVA's four regions.
Four meetings of the Ad Hoc Committee were held over the next year. Some areas of the plan were re-worked or expanded, and the plan gained favor among jurisdictions studying the feasibility of the agreement. A "Pilot Agreement" was made between the states of Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee to put into effect a prototype of the agreement based on the work of the Ad Hoc Committee. With little difficulty, the states initiated the "Pilot Agreement" beginning with the 1973 registration year.
As the final draft of the plan was being prepared in July 1973, the name was changed to the International Registration Plan (IRP). The project was presented to the AAMVA Annual International Conference in September 1973. A resolution passed at the conference making the IRP a reality, with the hope of creating the first national uniform interjurisdictional registration plan.
Today, the 48 contiguous US States, the District of Columbia and ten Canadian provinces, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Saskatchewan are all members of IRP and participate in the Plan, which authorizes registration of over 2.0 million commercial vehicles. In addition, the repository continues to have an open dialogue with Mexico on entering the IRP.
If you would like more information please email the Repository or call (703) 522-1905.