Djibouti City: A motor vehicle assembly plant. East African states are tightening controls on used car imports in a drive to cut pollution and boost the local manufacturing industry.
2016/06/13
East African states are tightening controls on used car imports in a drive to cut pollution and boost the local manufacturing industry.
Kenya recently announced that it would scale up its used car emissions laws, joining Uganda which has by presently introduced related taxes.
Cabinet Secretary in Kenya’s Ministry of Transport James Macharia said that the policy would any minute at this time be in place and that motorists found to be in breach of the law risk having their cars deregistered.
“By the end of the year, we will require vehicles countrywide to undergo a mandatory inspection to determine their level of toxic emissions,” said Mr Macharia.
The move comes against the backdrop of the East African Community 17th Heads of National Summit in March, which tasked the Secretariat to speed up work on a comprehensive study on the potential of setting up a regional car-making industry.
However, in its 2016/17 budget unveiled on June 8, Kenya scrapped a flat rate business of Ksh200,000 ($1,982) on cars aged additional than three years — which form the bulk of the used-car market — and Ksh150,000 ($1,486) for those aged below three years, and reverted to a 20 % levy on the price of the car that was in place before December last year.
Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury Henry Rotich said that the flat rate was unfair, inequitable and punitive to importers of vehicles commonly bought by low-gain earners, but beneficial to importers of luxury vehicles.
Environmental levy
On its part, Uganda introduced an environmental levy of up to 50 % of Customs business on the price of cars aged 10 years or additional in the completed financial year.
The move was meant to discourage the importation of cars that have higher pollution levels. Cars aged between five and 10 years attract a 35 % levy.
It is expected that the EAC Secretariat will, at the 18th Heads of National Summit, share a strategy policy paper borrowed from African car makers like South Africa, Nigeria and Ethiopia, with a view to adopting it in the region.
An EAC official privy to the deliberations by the Secretariat committee said that so far, the study is looking at ways to phase out secondhand vehicles — popularly known as Dangerous Mechanical Conditions.
“South Africa for example, has used tax incentives to promote its fledgling auto industry while Ethiopia has a policy that requires the government to use only locally-assembled cars as a way to boost sales,” the official said, adding that end user cost reductions will as well be a key element in the policy proposition to be presented at the summit.
The South African auto industry has relied on tax incentives and protectionism for years, becoming the continent’s major car assembly hub.
In Summary
East African states are tightening controls on used car imports in a drive to cut pollution and boost the local manufacturing industry.
Kenya recently announced that it would scale up its used car emissions laws, joining Uganda which has already introduced related taxes.
On its part, Uganda introduced an environmental levy of up to 50 per cent of Customs duty on the value of cars aged 10 years or more in the past financial year.
It is expected that the EAC Secretariat will, at the 18th Heads of State Summit, share a strategy policy paper borrowed from African car makers like South Africa, Nigeria and Ethiopia, with a view to adopting it in the region.
- Related Articles
-
Children on the move from Africa do not first aim to go to Europe, new UNICEF study shows
2017/07/29 Children on the move into Europe from Africa take the decision to leave home on their own and do not initially intend to go to Europe. For the majority the systematic trauma and abuse they witnessed or suffered in Libya caused them to flee to Europe and take the terrifying Central Mediterranean sea route, according to a new study commissioned by UNICEF and carried out by REACH. -
WHO lauds Africa’s progress in malaria, HIV control
2017/07/29 The World Health Organisation (WHO), has commended the African region for making significant evolution in malaria control in the last five years. Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, said malaria incidence and mortality rates had declined by 42 % and 66 % respectively between 2000 and 2015. Moeti made the commendation in Kigali, Rwanda, while speaking at the Initial Africa Health Forum, launched by WHO, Africa and the Government of Rwanda. -
South Africa plays an active role in the AU
2017/07/17 Absence of Zuma and Ramaphosa raises eyebrows, quoted Liesl Louw-Vaudran, a consultant at the Institute of Security Studies (ISS), who said South Africa was “ceding power to other players on the continent, such as Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and the current AU chairperson President Alpha Condé of Guinea”. -
Africa: How to Adapt to Beat Crippling Droughts
2017/07/17 Right presently, 14 million people across southern Africa face going hungry due to the prolonged drought brought on by the strongest El Niño in 50 years. South Africa will import half of its maize and in Zimbabwe as a lot of as 75 % of crops have been abandoned in the worst-hit areas. With extreme weather, such as failed rains, and drought projected to become additional likely as a result of climate change, some farmers are by presently taking matters into their own hands, and pro-actively diversifying the crops they grow. -
Africa: Expanded Engagement for Caterpillar - Boosting Sales & Alleviating Poverty
2017/07/16 A strong signal of growing business engagement with Africa by large U.S. corporations was the announcement last September by Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman of plans to invest over $1 billion in Africa over the next five years. Caterpillar is not a new-comer, having begun doing business on the continent in 1926. At last month's U.S.-Africa Business Summit in Washington, DC, David Picard, Caterpillar's regional manager for Africa and the Middle East, described some of the steps that have been taken since last year's announcement. He as well talked about the challenges and opportunities he sees, inclunding Nigeria, where the company has operated since 1948. He was interviewed by AllAfrica's Noluthando Crockett-Ntonga and Ladi Olorunyomi from Premium Times in Nigeria. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.
-
- Djibouti City News
-
- BOTSWANA: Children on the move from Africa do not first aim to go to Europe, new UNICEF study shows
- BOTSWANA: WHO lauds Africa’s progress in malaria, HIV control
- BOTSWANA: South Africa plays an active role in the AU
- BOTSWANA: Africa: How to Adapt to Beat Crippling Droughts
- BOTSWANA: Africa: Expanded Engagement for Caterpillar - Boosting Sales & Alleviating Poverty
- BOTSWANA: WHO Africa Health Forum App Leads the Way
- Trending Articles
-
- QATAR: Qatar focuses on preventive care in new national health strategy
- UNITED STATES: EU's Juncker says ready to retaliate if needed over new U.S. sanctions on Russia
- SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa considers privatisation to counter recession
- EUROPEAN UNION: Visegrad lobby makes food quality an EU issue
- WORLD: Don’t Hold Your Breath For Deeper OPEC Cuts
- EGYPT: Sudan: Egyptian FM to Visit Sudan Wednesday