www.autofile.co.nz
APRIL 2024
THE TRUSTED VOICE OF THE NZ AUTO INDUSTRY FOR NEARLY 40 YEARS
Late update looms for emissions rule
Industry association expects positive outcome for dealers after pressuring government to alter wording in legislation
A
last-minute change to the new exhaust emissions rule is expected just weeks before it comes into effect, prompting an industry association to urge the government to maintain “good dialogue” when updating regulations. Concern over a clause inserted into an amendment to the Land Transport Rule: Vehicle Exhaust Emissions 2007 has been raised because it would require imports inspected at the border before April 30 to “enter into service” within four months. The Imported Motor Vehicle Industry Association (VIA) has spent the past couple of months working with officials from the NZ Transport Agency and Ministry of Transport (MoT) to get the wording changed or removed. It says there was no mention of such a proviso during public consultation on the rule last year, and it has caught VIA and
The 2011 Toyota Prius will be banned from importation into New Zealand under new exhaust emissions rules
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its members by surprise and would put financial pressure on dealers to get vehicles registered. Greig Epps, chief executive, is confident officials will deliver a positive resolution to the problem before used-imported light vehicles have to meet tougher emissions standards from the end of this month. Following representations from VIA, the NZTA announced in March it was revisiting the amendment over concerns about the impact it would have on the used-imports sector and that it was working with the MoT “to develop a solution”.
Epps hopes lessons from this episode will be learned and applied when it comes to the government making future changes to laws affecting the automotive industry. “Moving forward, it makes it all the clearer that the government needs to keep a good dialogue with industry about regulations it’s planning to put in place,” he told Autofile. “It is also recognition of the importance of industry bodies such as VIA being able to have conversations with government and helping it understand the
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