KARACHI: The Engineering Development Board (EDB), an apex government body under the Ministry of Industries & Production in Pakistan, has issued two separate notifications for adopting motor vehicles safety, quality, and environmental standards for imported and locally-manufactured/assembled vehicles.
The development comes as the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) issued on Tuesday a statutory regulatory order (SROs), allowing commercial import of up to five-year-old vehicles with 40% additional duty with immediate effect.
As per the conditions notified by the EDB,
No person other than a company incorporated under the Companies Act, 2017 with import of vehicles as its principal line of business shall be allowed to import vehicles on commercial basis.
The minimum capital requirement of such a company shall be such as may be decided by the federal cabinet on the basis of intended scale of its business.
Every such company shall import used vehicles through regular banking channel, maintain complete record of all imported motor vehicles in the interest of transparency, and establish a sufficiently robust network for providing after sale services including firm assurance in relation to the availability of spare parts throughout the anticipated useful life of the imported vehicle to the satisfaction of the EDB.
The importer shall provide a pre-shipment inspection certification from an accredited body such as Japan Automotive Appraisal Institute (JAAI), Japan Export Vehicle Inspection Center (JEV1C), Korean Testing Laboratory (KTL), China Automotive Engineering Research Institute (CAERI), or any other accredited institute designated by the Engineering Development Board, verifying that the used vehicle meets the aforementioned regulations or their equivalent standards.
The said certification shall also clearly mention that the imported used vehicle has not met an accident, its odometer is not replaced or tempered, the interior is tidy without staining, exterior is clean with no bumps or dimples, engine condition is sound with exhaust emissions and noise lower than permissible level, wind shield and glasses have no cracks or breakage, it is otherwise road worthy with required number of air-bags installed and has verified manufacturing date.
With a view to dealing with emerging situations, the EDB may add any other area on which a pre-shipment certification shall be required and every imported used vehicle shall also be subject to a third-party post-shipment inspection through an appropriate facility designated by the EDB at the cost of importer.
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Meanwhile, when it comes to adoption of safety, quality and environmental standards for locally-manufactured or assembled vehicles, every motor vehicle manufacturer and assembler shall take appropriate measures – – – to ensure that their motor vehicles are compliant with the aforesaid regulations from June 30, 2026 onwards.
In case of a willful default by a manufacturer or assembler, the EDB may after providing opportunity of being heard, forfeit their manufacturing certificate and import authorisation in terms of SRO 656 (I) 2006.
In case a motor vehicle manufacturer or assembler considers that adoption of a particular standard within the aforesaid period is likely to be impeded by the need of acquisition of a new technology, large capital investment or any other difficulty, they may make an application to the EDB. On receipt of such application, the EDB may grant a reasonable extension in the implementation period not exceeding two years on case-to-case basis. In the like manner, a further extension of one year may be granted by Ministry of Industries and Production on case to case basis.
Any revision in the regulations shall become applicable to motor vehicles manufactured or assembled in Pakistan as and when adopted by the EDB.
It was clarified that the UNECE’s WP29 regulations for wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts had already been applied to all relevant categories of motor vehicles manufactured or assembled in Pakistan under the SRO 656(1)2006 including regulation number 13H concerning braking of passenger cars; regulation number 14 concerning safety-belt anchorages and others.
Talking to media, Shehryar Qadir, Senior Vice Chairman of Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts & Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM), said, “while PAAPAM has always opposed the government’s policy to allow the import of used vehicles, it is welcome that the government has decided to impose safety, quality & environmental standards on used imported vehicles”.
According to Qadir, 17 strict standards regarding motor vehicle safety, quality and environmental impact had already been adopted on all locally manufactured vehicles in Pakistan two years ago.
“However, there was no check and balance in place for imported used vehicles. The certification requirements put in place now if monitored and implemented in letter and spirit will benefit both the consumer and the country.”
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PAAPAM official argued that the challenge still remained on the many additional standards that had been applied on locally manufactured vehicles and specifically equipment and parts for those vehicles.
“As there are no certified or accredited testing facilities or labs in Pakistan, the cost implications on local part manufacturers will have to be seen. This has not been done by the government and we hope that as a result of this we do not see a rollback in localisation.
“We also currently manufacturing one of the cheapest motorcycles and tractors globally. This has resulted in successful exports, which have been increasing steadily over the past few years. The competitive advantage that both these sectors hold in terms of pricing must be understood and acknowledged. It would be a disservice to the nation if access to export markets was lost due to price increases in the future by implementation of these standards,” he said.
Here are the two EDB notifications for adopting motor vehicles safety, quality, and environmental standards for imported and locally-manufactured/assembled vehicles:
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