TIRANA, Feb. 26 – A government initiative to lift a newly imposed ban on the import of second-hand vehicles older than 10 years following protests by affected local traders has been met with resistance by environmentalists who fear allowing older vehicles enter the country will further increase pollution rates in one of Europe’s already most polluted countries.
Environmentalist Sazan Guri says lifting the ban, in place since early last December, will have negative effects both for the environment and human health, considering that pollution-related diseases are already affecting a rising number of people in the country, and claiming lives even among youngsters.
“I call it an unfair decision. Despite a small interest group being negatively affected, there is no larger interest group than the population itself. There are over 7,000 new cancer cases a year… and they affect even 30 to 40 year-olds,” Sazan Guri has told reporters.
While the infrastructure ministry has set up a working group to revise the decision that bans imports of all vehicles older than 10 years and not meeting the Euro 5 emission standards that have been implemented in the EU since late 2009, local media have unveiled legislation is on track to be revised to allow the import of second-hand vehicles from 2005 onwards and downgrade the minimum allowed emission standard to Euro 4.
In addition, the government is also expected to cancel legislation that forced traders to pay annual taxes for their unsold stock of vehicles and equip them with number plates by March 1, 2019, in a decision that affected some 60,000 second-hand vehicles currently on sale after having already paid their customs duties.
The government’s review follows protests by local traders who had warned the tough import restrictions would be negative both for them and the country’s residents not even affording to buy cars produced in the past 10 years due to poor income and the country having one of Europe’s highest oil prices.
The government withdrawal also comes as imports of second-hand vehicles under the new rules in force since December 2018 have suffered a drastic cut and in a concession ahead of the upcoming June 30 local elections.
Traders had expressed concerns many of the potential buyers could no longer afford buying cars produced in the past decade in costs starting from at least €6,000 compared to as cheap as €2,000 under no import restrictions until early December 2018.
Second-hand vehicle traders, most of whom based in the port city of Durres, some 30 km off Albania’s capital city Tirana, staged a series of protests in the past few months, calling on the government to revise its decision that negatively affected some 5,000 traders and their households relying on income from car trade. They were assured of the review only a couple of weeks ago during a meeting with the new infrastructure minister.
While the initial late 2018 decision does not affect vehicles already circulating in the country, it targeted gradually renovating the vehicle fleet in the country.
Second-hand cars account for the overwhelming majority of 95 percent of some 500,000 vehicles in the country with the average age at 20.
Importers of second-hand cars have been paying only 20 percent of the purchase or reference prices in customs duties since mid-2011 in a decision that eased import of second-hand cars at the expense of brand new vehicles, triggering concern by car concessionaires who have a market share of only around 5 percent in the car sale.
Albania imports around 50,000 second-hand vehicles a year, the majority of which older than ten years and not meeting the Euro 4 emission standards.
The new import ban does not apply to vehicles produced until 1970 for museum, collection or humanitarian purposes. An exception is also made for smaller goods and passenger vehicles with a maximum mass of 3.5 to 5 metric tons which must not be older than 15 years before registering in Albania.
Only 3.3 percent of vehicles circulating in the country, some 14,000, are estimated to meet Euro 5 and 6 emission standards applied in the EU since late 2009 and 2014 respectively, in a situation that significantly contributes to air pollution in the country.
Appeal for tougher penalties
Olsi Nika of the Eco Albania environmental association, says the review should also be accompanied by tougher measures on the quality of fuel traded in the country.
“The fact that the decision is being revised shows the decision was hasted and not based on any study. Above all, this decision must necessarily be accompanied with tougher penalties on the quality of fuel if the government really intends to protect the environment,” Nika has told a local TV.
Albania is a major oil producer but due to the poor quality and heavy refining needs of domestically produced oil, the Balkan country imports the overwhelming majority of its needs.
Media investigations have unveiled Albania has one of the region’s poorest oil quality, and almost everything goes unpunished, with the country’s key oil distributors overwhelmingly trading fuel mixed with cheaper substances such as kerosene and crude oil, at a time when the product is not fully refined.
Lab tests have shown Albania’s oil quality is the region’s poorest, with a negative impact on the environment, pollution-related diseases and some 430,000 cars possessed by Albanians.
Besnik Bare, an environmentalist who also serves as an MP for the ruling Socialist Party, says Albania can allow import of old vehicles as long as they meet emission standards at technical control tests in the country.
“I would say that the main problem is not the car’s production year and what I would favor is stricter technical controls. There are lots of old cars applying catalytic converters preventing environmental pollution and citizens don’t have to be punished because of this. While there is greater probability of an older car producing more harmful emissions, the fact should be certified by the technical control company,” Bare has told Vizion Plus TV.
Albania applies EU norms on fuel emissions for vehicle’s annual technical control tests, with thousands of cars failing tests in a considerable number of cases due to poor quality of fuel and vehicle’s old age.
The fuel trading market, one of the country’s biggest industries, is represented by more than 1,000 fuel stations with an annual turnover of more than 1 billion euros, half of which goes in taxes that consumers pay in excise, circulation, VAT and carbon taxes.
Due to the heavy tax burden levied on fuel, Albania already has one of Europe’s highest fuel prices, but one of the continent’s poorest income, which makes owning a car very expensive for many and more and more have been switching to cheaper liquefied petroleum gas-powered vehicles.
Pollution-related diseases
Air pollution figures in Albania remain among the highest in Europe, claiming more than 2,000 lives a year in pollution-related diseases, according to the latest report on air quality by the European Environment Agency. Almost half of pollution in the country is caused by vehicle emissions, but also plants ignoring environmental rules and open-air waste burning.
Tirana tops Albania’s air pollution city list, exceeding EU and World Health Organization limits by up to two times, but the surprise second most polluted city is Korà§a, the biggest city in southeast Albania whose pollution is mainly seasonal due to massive burning of firewood for home heating during winter.
About 2,120 people died in 2016 in Albania due to air pollution, of whom 2,010 were victims of high concentrations of fine particles in the air, 10 of nitrogen dioxide concentration and 100 of the ozone concentration, says a report by Denmark-based European Environment Agency, an EU watchdog.
Albania also has one of Europe’s highest death tolls from road accidents with an estimated 15 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants. About 2,000 road accidents took place last year, with a death toll of 222, the lowest level for the past six years when data is available.
Experts blame the high number of accidents on reckless driving, poor road infrastructure and lack of road signs.
