Euro III standard implemented for imports
KATHMANDU, OCT 19 -
The government has started enforcing the Euro III emission standard on import ed vehicles after sorting out confusing specifications that had held up effective implementation for the last two months. From now onwards, only vehicles meeting the new emission standard will be allowed entry into the country.
According to the Euro III standards the maximum permitted emission rate of carbon monoxide, for example, is 2.0 gm per km for motorcycles and 2.3 gm per km for passengers cars. The new standards will not apply to motor vehicles already in the country.
Earlier in August, the government had enforced the Nepal Vehicle Mass Emission Standard 2012 which bars the import of vehicles that do not comply with Euro III and the National Ambient Air Quality Standard 2012. However, due to errors in the new emission standards published in Nepal Gazette, the government could not implement the new standards effectively.
European emission standards define the acceptable limits for exhaust emissions of new vehicles. As a result of the error, many vehicles import ed with an eye on festival sales were held up at customs offices.
“The new emission standard has been implemented from Monday after making the necessary corrections in the emission standard,” said Sarad Adhikari, technical director at the Department of Transport Management. He added that the import procedure had also become normal allowing automobile dealers to import and release their vehicles from customs offices.
The corrected new emission standard was published in the gazette on Monday for implementation. With the government not implementing the new emission standard effectively, last month the Supreme Court had also issued an interim order to implement the new provision. As a result of the confusion over the new rule, around 5,000 vehicles including two-wheelers were held up at the customs prior to the peak season, resulting in lost sales for dealers.
“Auto dealers have started releasing their import s from Tuesday,” said Shekhar Golchha, vice-president of the Nepal Automobile Dealers’ Association (NADA). He added that uncertainty over the new emission standard had led to even vehicles meeting the Euro III standard being stopped at customs.
Among the 5,000 vehicles held up at customs in the last two months, 2,103 units failed the Euro III emission standards. However, the cars were allowed entry into the country as they had been ordered before the new rule went into effect. The rule is not applicable to tractors, cranes, dozers, power trailers, road rollers and excavators.
Nepal has been import ing vehicles based on Nepal Vehicle Mass Emission Standard 1999 (Euro I) for the last 13 years. Dealers said that even though the decision of the government to implement the new standard was laudable, it does not make any sense unless the government also ensures the quality of fuel and installs appropriate equipment to test vehicles if they meet the standards.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
