Industry organisation says correct information needs supplying at compliance for new system.
The Imported Motor Vehicle Industry Association (VIA) has warned the cut-off for passenger vehicles and light commercials under the clean car standard (CCS) will be at certification.
The association hosted a webinar on November 8, which was attended by 30 members and senior officials from Waka Kotahi overseeing the standard’s roll-out.
As reported in the latest issue of Autofile magazine on November 4, importers have until the end of this month to open a carbon dioxide (CO2) account for the CCS. All light vehicles will have to be entered into such an account from December ahead of the standard’s launch on January 1.
David Vinsen, VIA’s chief executive, outlined the way forward during the webinar. He stressed the cut-off for imports under the CCS will be at certification and that it’s important they match up with CO2 accounts when vehicles cross the border.
Kit Wilkerson, head of policy and strategy, added that the used-imports sector, until now, has been used to having such conditions met at the border-check stage.
“Now it will be an entry certification for the CCS,” he stressed. “This will create a bottleneck. It will become the new normal for Christmas time because the CCS values will change every January 1. So, it’s get the high emitters in before Christmas.”
Vinsen, pictured, said the unveiling of the standard’s regulations at the end of October means it’s still “early days and we are all feeling our way through it” when it comes to what’s required for the new system.
His advice to importers is to open their CO2 accounts as soon as possible and upload stock into them “to get a feel for the system before crunch time comes in January”.
He added: “We are in the implementation stage and then there will be the ongoing management of accounts.”
As for the longer term, Vinsen said importers may be “hit” when invoices are issued later in 2023 – that’s if they have negative balances on their CO2 accounts with CCS charges exceeding credits.
“At some stage next year, we will be hit by invoices and then have to scramble to find the money,” he added. “There will be a stretch when it comes to the payment of penalties, but the Minister [of Transport] has said the NZTA will be tolerant or liberal when it comes to collecting monies.
“When it comes to private importers, they will pay twice as the importer and the consumer. There are no exemptions for someone bringing a vehicle back when it comes to a one-off transaction.”
From January 1, the active acceptance of vehicles into CO2 accounts means importers get a plus or minus recorded into their account for the purposes of values with the CCS.
As for the standard’s launch date, that remains as new year’s day, despite VIA and the Motor Trade Association lobbying Michael Wood, Minister of Transport, for it to be delayed.
Vinsen told members: “From January 1, the penalties and credits will start and – sometime in the future – you will be billed by the NZTA for this.
“We’ve even taken legal advice on this, given the unreasonable timeframe we’re working to. It’s being driven by political considerations and the minister wants it implemented by January 1.
“The NZTA and government are throwing a lot of resources at this to get it across the line.
“We are now in a transitional phase until the system is in full swing sometime next year.”
Keyword: Clean car standard ratings warning