Gov’t to introduce new used-car import rules in bid to appease local producers

Poland plans to cut used-car imports by widening the definition of waste materials prohibited from entering the country to include vehicles involved in collision and no longer operational, the government’s legal office said on Friday. The move comes in an attempt to meet domestic car producers’ and dealers’ demands to give their vehicles an advantage over second-hand imports, which is believed to have in large part contributed to a 25% drop in domestic new car sales in 2000. An environment ministry official Zbigniew Kamienski said that cars that could not drive through the border would not be allowed to be brought in. At the same time, used cars which function properly will be allowed to be imported provided they are not older than 10 years, he said. The Finance Minister is also scheduled to sign new regulations on Monday, limiting the number of custom offices authorized to clear used-car imports and introducing obligatory technical examinations of used cars purchased abroad and subsequently brought into the country. Representatives of the domestic car industry said they were pleased with the government’s decisions, as they blamed the decline in new car sales on the country's relaxed second-hand vehicle import regulations, in addition to high interest rates and excise tax. (Reuters; Rzeczpospolita, 10-11 March, p. B1; Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 31) A.D.