Safety rules analysis sparks concern

The Imported Motor Vehicle Industry Association (VIA) has raised concerns about government analysis of possible safety mandates for new and used imports as it continues to wait for a ministerial decision on any new rules.

The coalition originally said decisions on whether to make a number of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) compulsory for imported vehicles were likely to be signed off by May this year. 

However, this has been delayed after James Meager, Associate Minister of Transport, asked officials for further analysis of the effects of changing land transport rules.

Greig Epps, VIA chief executive, told Autofile Online he is worried officials may have focused on the wrong areas when putting the proposals under extra scrutiny.

“We understand from some sources that the minister asked for a cost-benefit or affordability impact analysis of the proposal,” says Epps, pictured. 

“Separate to that, we have heard from an official that they reviewed the MVR [Motor Vehicle Register] and the Crash Analysis System.

“While that data might help determine ADAS effectiveness and current distribution of technology, we don’t know how it helps to determine the impact on supply availability and affordability.”

For new and used light and heavy vehicles, the proposals include mandating automatic emergency braking, lane-keep support systems, and acoustic vehicle-alert systems for “quiet” electric and hybrid units.

Public consultation on the plans took place late last year. A Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport spokesperson said last month the latest analysis was due to be presented to Meager by the end of September.

‘Hard conversations’

The ongoing delay over any final decisions, with some measures previously touted to apply from July 1, 2027, is also concerning for the industry as the general election will take place on November 7.

Epps notes that VIA does not want a repeat of 2023, when Labour minister David Parker signed off exhaust emissions rule amendments on the eve of the October election that year.

“Because of the lack of a government for several weeks afterwards, officials felt they couldn’t tell us the rule had been signed,” explains Epps.

“As a result, we didn’t find out about the decision until December and it had a strange registration requirement where it said vehicles needed to be registered within four months of their border-check date.

“We spent the early part of 2024 having to have hard conversations with officials about fixing that mistake because it was going to cause issues for people

“The thing that tripped everyone up was the decision being made the day before the election. We do not want to have a decision made that close to the election this time around if the implementation date is still going to be July next year.

“We think officials are going to have to push the timeframes out, if the changes are signed off, because it would be unreasonable to make a decision any time soon and still require those extra safety features on imports from July.”

Autofile magazine reported in April 2024 how NZTA and Ministry of Transport officials were working on a last-minute change to a new exhaust emissions rule weeks before it came into effect.

A clause inserted into an amendment to the Land Transport Rule: Vehicle Exhaust Emissions 2007 would have required imports inspected at the border before April 30, 2024, to “enter into service” within four months. 

VIA spent months working with officials to change or remove the wording as there had been no mention of such a proviso during public consultation on the rule in 2023.

At the time, Epps said the wording had caught VIA and its members by surprise and would have put financial pressure on dealers to get vehicles registered.