A taskforce made up of four major governmental bodies has been assigned with the task of promulgate National Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
According to a report by Mehr News Agency, the taskforce comprises representatives of Iran’s National Standards Organization, Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade, the Department of Environment and Trade Promotion Organization of Iran.
Manufacturers and importers of vehicles and auto parts must conform to or certify the compliance of products with the standards.
Currently, car quality assessment has 52 indices, but the figure is set to increase. The officials, however, have not yet provided precise details in regards with the new indices.
Quality assessment is conducted to protect the public against the unreasonable risk of accidents that may occur as a result of a fault in the design, construction or performance of motor vehicles. According to Nayyereh Pirouzbakht, the head of INSO, the updates will be finalized by the end of the next fiscal year (March 20, 2017).
The Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade will have to devise a schedule for the implementation of the new standards.
In a press conference held last week, Pirouzbakht explained that INSO is only in charge of monitoring the vehicles and auto parts to ensure that they comply with the standards—implying that it is not for the organization to determine whether or not the goods have been smuggled.
Her comments come shortly after debates over stopping contraband auto parts from entering the country recently gained momentum.
Independent Vehicle Import
To help improve vehicle quality and standards, an amendment to the guidelines for independent vehicle imports was communicated to both commercial and private Iranian vehicle importers last week.
The term “independent” refers to any legal or natural persons who do not have the rights to official vehicle representatives inside the country, yet are legally allowed to import vehicles into Iran.
The recent amendment indicates that all legal and natural persons may obtain an official representation from the parent company to provide after-sales services to customers. If that is not possible due to foreign limitations, they will have to negotiate a deal with legal representatives present in the country.
However, if they fail to reach a deal with the parent company or the legal representatives present in the country for providing after-sales services, they will not be allowed to import cars.
Due to the varying nature of regulations, car imports in Iran remain one of the hot topics of debate.
