1.— (1) In this Act—

“Agreement” means the agreement between the Government of Ireland and the Government of the United States of America on Air Transport Preclearance, done at Washington on 17 November 2008, the text of which, for convenience of reference, is set out in the Schedule;

“air carrier” means an air transport undertaking, whether scheduled or charter, that operates a non-stop air travel service between the State and the United States, whether that service originates in the State or elsewhere;

“aircraft” means an aircraft intended to be flown to the United States following preclearance and includes, where applicable, a private aircraft;

“aircraft commander” means the person serving on a private aircraft who has command of its operation and navigation;

“airport authority” means the body responsible for the management, operation and development of an airport at which preclearance services are provided in accordance with this Act;

“goods” includes personal effects, baggage, aircraft stores, equipment, food, animals and plants and their products, any substance, currency and other monetary instruments, and documents in any form (including electronic form);

“in-transit preclearance” means the preclearance of travellers, their goods, and the aircraft concerned that arrive in the State from a state other than the State en route to the United States;

“Irish law enforcement officer” means a member of An Garda Síochána or an officer of Customs and Excise;

“Minister” means the Minister for Transport;

“permission to enter” means permission under this Act by a preclearance officer—

(a) to a traveller, to enter the United States, and in respect of the traveller’s goods, to take them to the United States, and

(b) in respect of an aircraft, to enter the United States;

“possession”, in relation to possession of any goods or weapon by a person, includes control over any goods or weapon;

“preclearance” means the procedure of conducting at an airport in the State by a preclearance officer of all or any of the examination and inspection required in respect of—

(a) a traveller seeking entry into the United States,

(b) the goods of such traveller intended to be taken into the United States, and

(c) the aircraft concerned;

“preclearance area”—

(a) means a place designated by the Minister under section 2(1) (including any bridge designed to facilitate the boarding of an aircraft from such a place), and

(b) includes a vehicle while conveying travellers to or from a preclearance area and the aircraft or another part of the preclearance area;

“preclearance facility” means the physical inspection infrastructure in the preclearance area, including any offices and examination areas together with any equipment required for the purposes of this Act;

“preclearance officer” means a United States Customs and Border Protection official authorised by this Act to perform the functions conferred by this Act;

“private aircraft” means an aircraft intended to be flown to the United States that is not operated by an air carrier;

“postclearance” means the examination and inspection of travellers, their goods and the aircraft concerned, upon arrival in the United States;

“traveller” means a passenger or member of the crew of an aircraft seeking entry to the United States under this Act and includes an aircraft commander;

“United States” means the United States of America, its Government and any agency of the United States associated with preclearance operations in Ireland, including United States Customs and Border Protection;

“weapon” means a firearm within the meaning of the Firearms Acts 1925 to 2007, or a knife within the meaning of section 9(1) of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1990, or a weapon of offence within the meaning of section 10(2) of that Act.

(2) Subject to subsection (1), a word or expression used in this Act that is also used in the Agreement has the same meaning in this Act as it has in the Agreement.

(3) In this Act a reference to preclearance, or preclearance area, includes a reference to in-transit preclearance, or in-transit preclearance area, as the case may be.