Waka Kotahi’s final position is the law doesn’t allow for vehicles delayed by strike to secure dispensation from clean car standard.
An industry group has decided against further legal action in its campaign to secure exemptions from the clean car standard (CCS) for vehicles destined for New Zealand that have been delayed in Australia due to industrial action.
The Imported Motor Vehicle Industry Association (VIA) has opted to accept Waka Kotahi’s position that the relevant legislation does not permit for such exclusions to be made even though cars on-board the affected vessels were due to pass entry compliance before the standard starts on January 1.
It means high-emitting vehicles that should have been processed before the CCS starts on New Year’s Day will now be subject to relevant changes when they eventually cross the border.
VIA made its decision to accept the agency’s standpoint on this issue following a weekly meeting between Waka Kotahi officials and the industry-led clean-car working group on December 14.
David Vinsen, VIA’s chief executive, told Autofile Online: “We have pushed very hard to get exemptions for these vehicles. This is a genuine force majeure with these importers having arranged to bring them into New Zealand and have them processed before January 1 in good faith.
“It was our case there needed to be some natural justice. There were also expectations for this to happen based on previous experiences with new legislation in-line with provisions made for this type of matter.
“However, the NZTA was again very firm that these vehicles will not be exempted on the basis that the legislation doesn’t provide for this to happen.”
Vinsen, pictured, says that officials have done calculations based on recent importation patterns. The agency states these show it’s highly likely that based on total numbers of delayed vehicles that, overall, the industry will be in credit.
However, that doesn’t help importers when it comes to lost opportunities to get high emitters on those delayed vessels processed before the CCS launches.
After the meeting, VIA further discussed the matter and “internally decided to accept this decision because that’s the reality of the situation”.
Vinsen adds: “We will not be proceeding with further legal action or publicity around this. Our focus now will be on continuing to work with the NZTA to ensure the implementation of the CCS is as smooth as possible.
“VIA will also be looking to ensure future legislation does provide for exemptions in cases such as this when it comes to the start dates and phased changes.
“The NZTA is pleased we have decided not to take this matter further. The process has been a good example, however, of a good level of communication between officials and the industry through VIA.”
It has been estimated that about 4,000 vehicles may unexpectedly end up copping costs under the CCS after being caught up in shipping delays caused by a tug-operator strike at the Port of Brisbane, as reported in the December issue of Autofile magazine.
The industrial action means the imports that were due to arrive in Aotearoa at the start of this month may not get here until the middle of January, so it will not be possible to have them processed before the standard is officially launched.
Waka Kotahi has been contacted to comment on its decision to not exempt the vehicles on the delayed vessels.
Keyword: VIA accepts exemption decision