African countries including Kenya imported the largest number of used vehicles (40 per cent) in the period studied. PHOTO/UNEP
By PATRICK MAYOYO
Millions of used cars, vans and minibuses exported from Europe, the United States and Japan to the developing world are of poor quality, contributing significantly to air pollution and hindering efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change, a new report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) says.
A landmark, first-of-its-kind UNEP report, looks at 146 countries that import used vehicles, and calls for action to regulate the trade through the adoption of a set of harmonized minimum quality standards.
The report shows that between 2015 and 2018, 14 million used light-duty vehicles were exported worldwide. Some 80 per cent went to low- and middle-income countries, with more than half going to Africa.
The report says these vehicles are contributing to air pollution and many of them are of poor quality and would fail road-worthiness tests in the exporting countries.
The report Used Vehicles and the Environment-A Global Overview of Used Light Duty Vehicles: Flow, Scale and Regulation, calls for action to fill the current policy vacuum with the adoption of harmonized minimum quality standards that will ensure used vehicles contribute to cleaner, safer fleets in importing countries.
“Cleaning up the global vehicle fleet is a priority to meet global and local air quality and climate targets,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. “Over the years, developed countries have increasingly exported their used vehicles to developing countries; because this largely happens unregulated, this has become the export of polluting vehicles.”
Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UN Environment Programme (UNEP). PHOTO/UN
The fast-growing global vehicle fleet is a major contributor to air pollution and climate change; globally, the transport sector is responsible for nearly a quarter of energy-related global greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, vehicle emissions are a significant source of the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) that are major causes of urban air pollution.
“The lack of effective standards and regulation is resulting in the dumping of old, polluting and unsafe vehicles. Developed countries must stop exporting vehicles that fail environment and safety inspections and are no longer considered roadworthy in their own countries, while importing countries should introduce stronger quality standards,” Ms Andersen added.
The report says fiscal instruments are an effective measure to rationalize and improve the quality of used vehicle flows. It however, notes that the East African sub-region has no harmonized approach to regulate the import of used vehicles (largely from Japan).
“Most used vehicles are imported through Mombasa in Kenya and, to a lesser extent, the Dar es Salaam in Tanzania before they are transported to landlocked countries of Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda. While Kenya has a maximum used vehicle import age limit of eight years, other countries in East Africa do not,” the report notes.
It adds that in 2018, the average age of imported used vehicles in Rwanda and Uganda was above 15 years; while the average age of imported used vehicles in Kenya’s was 7.2 years.
“Over the years the average age of used vehicles imported in Uganda has increased from 8.1 to 15.4 years. In 2018 Uganda adopted a 15-year age limit for used light duty vehicles and in 2019 Rwanda adopted Euro 4/IV vehicle emission standards,” the report indicates.
Fiscal instruments can include customs duties, surtax, VAT, registration fees, circulation taxes, feebates, etc. Kenya imposes taxes based on the CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight) of the vehicle.
The report, based on an in-depth analysis of 146 countries, found that some two-thirds of them have ‘weak’ or ‘very weak’ policies to regulate the import of used vehicles.
However, it also shows that where countries have implemented measures to govern the import of used vehicles – notably age and emissions standards – these give them to access high-quality used vehicles, including hybrid and electric cars, at affordable prices.
For example, Morocco only permits the import of vehicles less than five years old and those meeting the EURO4 European vehicles emission standard; as a result, it receives only relatively advanced and clean used vehicles from Europe.
The report found that African countries imported the largest number of used vehicles (40 per cent) in the period studied, followed by countries in Eastern Europe (24 per cent), Asia-Pacific (15 per cent), the Middle East (12 per cent) and Latin America (nine per cent).
Through its ports, the Netherlands is one of the exporters of used vehicles from Europe. A recent review conducted by The Netherlands of its exports found that most of these vehicles did not have a valid roadworthiness certificate at the time of export.
Most vehicles were between 16 and 20 years old, and most fell below EURO4 European Union vehicles emission standards. For example, the average age of used vehicles exported to the Gambia was close to 19 years old, while a quarter of used vehicles exported to Nigeria were almost 20 years old.
Poor quality used vehicles also lead to more road accidents. According to the report, many of the countries with “very weak” or “weak” used vehicles regulations, including Malawi, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Burundi, also have very high road traffic death rates. Countries that have introduced used vehicles regulations also see safer fleets and fewer accidents.
UNEP, with the support of the UN Road Safety Trust Fund and others, is part of a new initiative supporting the introduction of minimum used vehicles standards.
The initiative’s first focus will be countries on the African continent; a number of African countries have already put in place minimum quality standards – including Morocco, Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Mauritius – with many more showing interest in joining the initiative.
The report concludes that more research is needed to detail further the impacts of the trade in used vehicles, including that of heavy duty used vehicles.
