ATL: Transparent regime needed
The chief executive officer of a border-inspection company says the NZTA needs to put in place a transparent regime with stringent auditing to govern the used-vehicle supply chain.
That’s the view of Nigel Grindall, of Automotive Technologies Ltd (ATL), who also owns shipping company Moana Blue Limited.
He’s “delighted” the agency has finally made a decision on its consultation document on managing conflicts of interest (COIs) policy in regards to border inspection and entry certification. In a nutshell, the regulator has decided to retain its existing policy, and strengthen its “assurance and auditing programme”.
Grindall told Autofile Online: “I’m glad a decision has been made and delighted it’s now a level playing field for all inspection companies. I’m also happy there will be full auditing, although what shape that will take is yet to be known. I suspect the NZTA’s focus may be more on entry certification than border inspection.”
He adds he has no plans for his business to adopt a vertical supply-chain model, such as what “the Optimus Group and possibly others have established”.
“Now we all know what the rules are. We’re not exporters and have chosen not to be because we don’t want to alienate our customers in Japan because we are – and they want us to be – independent.
“When we submitted to the NZTA’s panel, what we wanted was for everyone to have the same options open to them, and to even create COIs in the supply chain if they wanted to as long as there was strict governance around that,” says Grindall. “JEVIC and VINZ perhaps understood that better than any of us. The former picked up on the governance aspect and good on them for that.
“The problem is that after the past 18 months’ uncertainty, everyone has now found out they can do that too because they were unsure what the rules were previously. If we had wanted to go for vertical integration over this timescale, we wouldn’t have been able to.
“Apart from what we’re doing, it doesn’t suit us to integrate further. Being an independent company gives us a competitive advantage and flexibility. But clear guidelines for border inspections and entry certification are now needed.
Grindall notes that entry certifiers are already being much more conservative because they don’t want to lose their licences. This means they are erring on the side of caution.
“We need a regime that’s transparent and understood instead of everyone not knowing what the standards are. A good auditing system should take the ambiguity out of inspection outcomes.
Grindall stresses the NZTA now has a lot on its plate to get auditing systems in place by the middle of next year.
“Agency officials will need to take time to go to Japan where there are perhaps 13 or 14 locations with up to 100 inspectors in total. Then there are probably more than 300 sites in New Zealand. The NZTA has a big job ahead, but we are all here to support it in achieving the best outcome.”
“On the Moana Blue side of our business, we are privy to a lot of confidential information around vehicle pricing and customers that could be misused if in the wrong hands.
“This level of protection and confidentiality are exactly what our independent customers want. That’s a point of difference with us and it makes no sense for us to change that by becoming vertically integrated.”
