Used car importers saddled with customers' traffic fines

Importers of used cars yesterday told Roads Minister Jesmond Mugliett they were being forced to pay backdated traffic fines on cars seized from defaulting clients.

An importer said in one case a client who had fallen short of paying instalments had received up to Lm1,500 in traffic fines and these had to be paid by the car dealer himself once the car was taken from the defaulter. Other dealers said this had happened to them as well, and that the traffic fines accumulated often ran into hundreds of liri.

The issue was brought up when Mr Mugliett was fielding questions at the closure of a breakfast seminar organised by The Malta Financial and Business Times yesterday morning.

The car dealers - who are members of the association of used vehicle importers, UVIA - said it was not fair that they had to pay for fines received by others just because they seized a car from a client. They asked the minister to address the issue.

Short of an off-the-cuff explanation, Mr Mugliett said the Malta Transport Authority (ADT) would seek to examine and clarify the matter, and promised that a solution would be found.

Mr Mugliett spoke earlier on the legal framework regulating the importation of cars in Malta, exhaust emissions control and European rules which specify how a car needs to be disposed of when its lifetime ends, within the context of the existing pique between new car importers and importers of used cars from Japan - the main theme of the breakfast seminar.

Declaring that he had no bias in favour of agents of new cars, and that the government had no intention to kill importers of used vehicles, Mr Mugliett said one main problem with Japanese cars, especially those produced for non-European markets, was that their standards of production were not as stringent as those imposed in the European Union.

Mr Mugliett said that for recycling purposes, all new cars had to have their parts numbered to comply with the "end of life" directive which was slowly being introduced across Europe.

"There are no such requirements for cars sold in other regions," the minister said. Another issue that had to be addressed was that used car importers had to take on the obligation of disposing of the vehicles they imported in the same way as local agents of new cars.

Though new cars imported to Malta would have to comply with Euro 4 standards as of October, the government would not impose this measure on used cars imported after that date, which was a clear sign that the government was not out to destroy competition, Mr Mugliett said.

Emmanuel Mallia, UVIA legal representative, said the main models imported from Japan complied with Euro 4 standards, which meant that they had the latest eco-friendly technology.

Dr Mallia said the demand of used cars was not a phenomenon which was exclusive to Malta as the popularity of cars imported from Japan was increasing throughout Europe.

Dr Mallia said it would be unfair if the government increased the registration tax on used cars, adding that the arguments brought forward by new car importers against "pollution generated by used Japanese cars" did not stem from their love for the environment but from fear of competition.

"Legislating in favour of new car importers would not be fair. Let the consumer decide," Dr Mallia said.

On the numbering of car parts for end-of-life disposing purposes, Dr Mallia said other countries were grappling with this issue as well.

"Common sense should prevail," Dr Mallia said, adding that discussions should precede the introduction of regulations.

Neither importers of new cars nor the association representing them - the Association of Car Importers (ACIM) - were present for the breakfast yesterday. ACIM members, as well as their legal representative Georg Sapiano, had declined an invitation to participate in the discussion, the organisers said.