oj overseas journal - The PSV Circle Website

REGISTRATION NOTES 804-OJ-68 REGISTRATION NOTES
On 2nd May 2006 Poland adopted the euroband in place of the national flag on new plates, and this new style is
becoming more common on the road. Already struggling with the combinations used, in May 2006 offices using
three letter codes were allowed to use five digit serials.
In Germany the code RP was introduced in 2005 for Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis: LU is now used only for Ludwigshafen
city. Since 30th April 2006 the new official code BP has been introduced for the Federal Police, replacing the
former BG Federal Border Protection code. Readers may remember that until 1997 the code BP was used for the
Post Office.
In Bulgaria the code CA has been noted in use: this is a new code for Sofia which was introduced during 2005.
Norway introduced new plates on 1st November 2006. A continuation of the former registration series, the plates
are manufactured using different dies and now have a blue band with the national flag above "N" to the left. The
new dies will be used for all except military plates. The blue band is used on the green light commercial plates but
will not be used on export, rally, trade, tax free or vintage car plates. The situation with diplomatic plates is not yet
known.
In Russia the current series of plates is starting to be exhausted and three digit codes have had to be introduced,
all of them being the original code plus 100. 177 (Moscow) and 125 (Primorsky) have been in use for some time,
now joined by 164 (Saratov), 150 (Moscow oblast) and 152 (Nizhny Novgorod). According to officials only "1" will
be used as there is insufficient room for other numerals to be used to expand the series, so watch this space!
In New Zealand there have been subtle changes to the dies used on plates, in particular the slashed zero is now
squarer and the slash does not extend outside the circle of the numeral. This change came about for normal
series plates in March 2006 at DFN 10.
The current series of plates in Morocco has moved on from the Arabic serial letter "A" to the letter "B". Although
this change has only been reported recently it would appear that the new serial letter commenced issue in larger
districts in late 2003.
Zimbabwe has introduced new plates which apply to new registrations or on change of ownership. The black on
reflective yellow plates have three letters and four numerals, all serial, with the national crest as a divider. The
only company which manufactures these plates is owned by the husband of the Vice President. MAKAVELI, in
this new style, has been photographed in use, so it appears that personalised plates are now permitted.
In the Turks and Caicos Islands a colourful graphic series of plates was introduced for taxis in June 2006 with
registrations commencing from TC 0001 in red on a blue and white background featuring various local flora and
fauna. Taxis were previously registered in the PSV series used on buses and tourist vans.
Even more colour applies in Thailand where, commencing in 2004, each province has introduced its own design
of graphic backgrounds for plates. However, these are unlikely to appear on public service vehicles since they are
only available at auction and, to date, only "nice" registrations have been made available. The latest information
is that just 301 of these plates have been sold to motorists.
‘Registration Plates of the World' is now available on line, currently covering Europe, Asia, the Middle East and
Africa, with the Caribbean due to be added shortly and, in time, the rest of the world. Visit www.europlate.org.uk
where two sample countries can be viewed free of charge.
KER 030107