MTA Welcomes Clean Car Standard Payment Deferral

The Motor Trade Association says the decision to defer payment of charges under the Clean Car Standard will give dealers much-needed certainty.

Transport Minister Michael Wood today announced that while the Clean Car Standard (CCS) will begin on January 1 2023 as planned, payment of charges will be delayed until 1 June.

MTA had previously urged the Minister to delay implementation of the entire CCS until April, at the earliest.

“While not what we asked for, today’s decision is a win for industry,” says MTA Sector Manager – Retail, Tony Everett.

“It will allow dealers to establish credits in the first half of the year in preparation for when payments need to be made.

“In recent weeks importers have been buying a little bit blind as to when the new rules will apply, so this finally adds certainty to the process.”

The CCS works by giving credits to importers for low or zero emission vehicles, while imposing charges on other vehicles depending on their CO2 ratings.

Tony says deferral of carbon account settlement will also allow time for the market to settle into whatever the new normal looks like.

Demand, and perhaps pricing, for low CO2 vehicles in Japan is likely to increase to some extent as importers seek to target such vehicles to help off-set any ‘fee/debit’ impacts.

“The same thing happened when the Clean Car Discount scheme was introduced in July 2021, and then the second part in April 2022,” Tony says.

Along with other industry groups, MTA has been critical of the lack of information around the CCS. Regulations for the scheme were completed only weeks ago.

“It’s been very hard for the market to plan with any certainty. We have raised the issue with the Minister several times, so we’re glad that he acknowledges he’s listened to industry.”

Tony Everett also said the decision to exclude motorcycles from the CCS was obvious and sensible.

While supporting the reduction of harmful emissions in the transport sector, MTA believes the CCS and Clean Car Programme in general have been rushed and based on unrealistic data and projections.

MTA believes greater emphasis should be placed on emissions testing and redress of internal combustion engine vehicles on our roads. MTA argues that the reduction in the existing fleet’s CO2 emissions through in-service testing could equate to removing thousands of old vehicles from the fleet.

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