The cabinet today approved the Ministry of Transport's proposal for the vehicle services registration bill, which sets out arrangements for importing new vehicles, and the sale and trade of used vehicle parts. The reform is supposed to lower the prices of new cars and vehicle parts.
The new bill is based on the recommendations of the Zelika Committee, which were submitted last year, and most of its clauses were contained in last week's economic arrangements bill. The main part of the bill concerns personal imports and allows for the personal importation of up to 20 vehicles a year for inventory including vehicles registered overseas.
The bill deals with the activities of importers not directly related to the vehicle manufacturers. The bill also grants far reaching powers to the Minister of Transport in personal imports, including determining types of cars and their manufacturers, the possibility of refusing to grant a license to importers "according to competitive considerations" and more. The bill includes temporary instructions for the first time (until 2015) allowing a business or individual to import two vehicles each year for business or personal use.
The bill also deals with activities in service garages including measures to reduce the involvement of vehicle importers in parts, and defining circumstances in which a garage may have its license revoked and liberalization of parts regulations as well as setting up a website with comparative prices of parts.
Market sources believe that although the transport ministry sees the bill "lowering the price of new cars by 20%," prices will actually rise in the short term because of new taxes planned by the Ministry of Finance including the green tax, higher VAT, and the luxury car tax.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 28, 2013
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