KEY POINTS:
Motor vehicle dealers are making a last-ditch effort to get vehicle emissions rules changed, but the Government is pressing ahead, with the rules to be approved this week.
A spokesman for Associate Transport Minister Judith Tizard said the rules would go before the Cabinet today before being signed by Transport Safety Minister Harry Duynhoven during the week.
The Independent Motor Vehicle Dealers' Association (IMVDA) said today's Cabinet meeting provided a golden opportunity to promote tough new emissions testing across the entire New Zealand vehicle fleet.
The association has been critical of the Government's plans to introduce new restrictions on fresh imports only, which dealers have dubbed the "crazy car policy".
The IMVDA has pointed to research by the Government's own economic advisers, Covec, and by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research - commissioned by the association - which said the policy would increase the cost of vehicles, drive up the average age of the fleet, worsen air pollution and potentially cost lives.
The Government's plan would also double the cost of commercial vehicles such as delivery trucks, putting financial stress on distribution businesses, increasing the cost of goods and services across the economy and putting downward pressure on the wages of distribution workers, the association said.
Chief executive David Vinsen said it would be crazy to proceed.
Ms Tizard's spokesman said the IMVDA had been consulted early in the process and some steps were taken to accommodate its concerns.
However, the Government is pressing ahead, with the rule applying only to fresh imports rather than cars already on the road in New Zealand.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said last week that despite the protests of the imported-used-car dealers, the policy had broad support.
"We have tremendous support across the broader transport and tourism sectors for what we are doing with the age and standards of cars imported into New Zealand."
Ms Tizard's spokesman said there would be a phased-in implementation of the new emissions rule. He also said the rule was not coming about in isolation.
Various campaigns had been staged to get old cars off the road, such as the Choke the Smoke trial and a vehicle scrapping trial, both in Auckland.
The Ministry of Transport was looking at how the vehicle scrapping scheme could be implemented nationwide next year, he said.
The Government had a three-phase programme. It was taking steps on the quality of fuel being used and it was looking at the quality of vehicles on the roads, which was where the new rule came in. The third step was looking at how people used their cars, which included campaigns on smooth acceleration.
The IMVDA says the rule could add $5000 to the price of a used car. But the spokesman said the association was not taking into account the fact that cars would be newer.
When Ms Tizard and Mr Duynhoven released the proposed changes, they said they would apply to vehicles when they were first registered for use on New Zealand roads but would not affect vehicles already registered.
When the proposals were released to the public, they said changes were likely to come into effect at the start of next year.
NEW RULES
* Japanese used imports that run on petrol and were built before 2000 will be banned and diesels will be restricted to those built since 2003.
* Car importers say the move will drive up prices and force many New Zealanders to stick with older cars, which cause more pollution.
- NZPA
