This week in Federal Parliament legislators will agree that new laws regulating the importation and supply of road vehicles be delayed for up to two years.
The Road Vehicle Standards Act is the culmination of the review of the Motor Vehicle Standards Act, a process which has taken more than five years.
The review process has been politically sensitive, particularly in the early days when the Government was considering a scheme which would have allowed for the parallel importation of new vehicles from right-hand drive markets.
The AADA and other industry bodies strongly opposed this, mainly on consumer welfare and road safety
grounds.
In late 2017 the Government agreed with us, announcing that it would be abandoning this policy.
With this controversial element removed from the legislation, somestakeholders pushed for this new legislation to be implemented as soon as possible.
However, the AADA supports the legislative delay for the simple fact that the laws are not yet quite ready.
The new legislation is the biggest shake up of vehicle standards legislation in 30 years.
There are a number of new complex elements such as a new online register of approved vehicles, recall powers for the Minister responsible, and new criteria to allow vehicles to be imported under a concessional path.
There are a host of stakeholders that have to adjust to this new environment, such as the many businesses involved with the importation and first supply of cars to the market.
OEMs, registered automotive workshops, newly established authorised vehicle verifiers and independent importers will all need to adjust.
Governments will also need to be ready, not only the Federal Government but also State and Territory registration authorities.
In particular, the AADA supports the delay due to specific concerns we have around the operation of the Specialist and Enthusiast Vehicle scheme, known as the SEVs.
The SEVs is a pathway for car enthusiasts to bring unique, rare and exotic cars to Australia.
Unfortunately, the scheme as it exists has been flagrantly abused.
In particular, through a loophole that allowed independent importers to bring into Australia used people movers under the guise of campervans.
The SEVs is now being reformed and we support the goal of making it a more objective scheme that caters for true specialist and enthusiast vehicles.
However, the AADA remains concerned about several elements being proposed by the Government that could still allow the scheme to be used as a back door for mainstream second hand car imports.
Our biggest concern with the SEVs scheme is that for the first-time vehicle variants (not just models) that are not supplied by manufacturers in Australia will be eligible for importation by individuals and private businesses.
In theory this is acceptable, but only if we have a robust definition of what constitutes a variant.
Cosmetic difference should not be part of that robust definition.
A pink vehicle with an additional cup holder should not be considered a variant.
In our view, the definition of a variant should focus on core features that make a real difference, such as transmission type and propulsion type.
The AADA believes appropriate international definitions of variant already exist, including the EU definition or the definition of variant within the United Nations Regulations.
Vehicles that do pass the variant test can then come into Australia under certain categories.
We are still coming to terms with the thresholds embedded in these categories, but there is enough in there that concerns us that a potential backdoor for mainstream
used car imports could emerge.
The Takata airbag recall has delivered a lesson in the importance of vehicle provenance.
The safety and consumer welfare implications should be front and centre of this reform and we hope that a delay in the implementation of the laws assists us in reaching the best possible vehicle standards regime.
