Minister sticks to clean car standard plan
The Minister of Transport says the government has no plans to delay the introduction of the clean car standard despite industry associations calling for the rollout of the legislation to be pushed back.
Michael Wood says questions have been raised about the start date for the new rules, which will target new and used vehicle importers, by the Imported Motor Vehicle Industry Association (VIA) and the Motor Trade Association (MTA).
“Waka Kotahi continues to work closely with both associations to ensure the system that manages the scheme will be operationalised effectively,” explains Wood.
“The government intends to implement the clean car standard from January 1, 2023, as legislated for last year as an important part of efforts to reduce vehicle emissions, and to support importers to access cleaner vehicles.”
His comments came in response to a parliamentary question from Simeon Brown, National’s transport spokesman, who asked if the minister was aware of any stakeholders that wished to delay the standard’s introduction.
The standard is the second part of the clean car programme and will penalise importers of light vehicles with high carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions levels.
It will target the supply-side of the industry, while the clean car discount that was first introduced in July last year before becoming a full feebate scheme in April aims to influence purchasing decisions after vehicles have arrived in the country.
Under the standard, businesses bringing vehicles into New Zealand will have to meet average CO2 figures across what they import that are equal to, or less than, the target for its fleet.
The government’s targets will get increasingly harder each year as it seeks to encourage the uptake of more electric vehicles, hybrids and other fuel-efficient models.
High-emissions vehicles can still be imported because the system works by averaging but dealers will need to offset such models with zero and low-emissions vehicles if they want to avoid financial penalties.
VIA has called for the standard’s implementation to be put on hold until flaws it has identified with the discount scheme, such as incomplete vehicle data, are addressed.
The MTA has previously stated the standard should be delayed until at least 2025 as it believes the combination of the discount and current Ministry of Transport work on tighter emission standards will change the purchasing decisions and supply choices in the market.
The Motor Industry Association has also expressed concern that draft regulations for the standard have yet to be published by the government, leaving little time for new-vehicle distributors to prepare for the change.
