All carmakers in Vietnam are very happy with the local customs sector’s tight policies imposed on imported used cars to prevent trade fraud. The strict policies help prevent the entrance of rubbish, polluting and unsafe vehicles, carmakers said.
Toyota Motor Vietnam (TMV) has sent a thank-you letter to the General Department of Customs (GDC), saying “We would like to send our sincere thanks to the General Department [GDC] for your invaluable supports in researching and introducing measures to manage import of used cars to protect environment, traffic safety and automotive industry.”
“Toyota as well as all other automakers is happy with the strict policies because used cars must satisfy stringent technical requirements and high tariffs, and are allowed to enter Vietnam via four ports,” VietNamNet said.
Under the current rule, used cars must be at least six months old, run at least 10,000 km and can be imported via only four international seaports namely Cai Lan in Quang Ninh province, Haiphong city, Danang City and Ho Chi Minh City.
Meanwhile, the tax levied on imported used cars ranges from $3,000 to $25,000 depending on engine size. The aggregation of the fixed absolute tax, 50 per cent luxury tax and 10 per cent VAT will drive up a used car price to nearly equal that of a brand-new car.
“It is clear that used cars prove unable to compete with locally made new cars due to their prices elevated beyond by the high tariffs,” the e-newspaper said.
With unfavorable policies, after one month since Vietnam allowed the import of used cars, only 10 units have arrived at Vietnamese ports. However, customs officers are suspect of the declared prices of these automobiles and want more time to investigate before making clearances.
Nguyen Minh Dong, a Viet Kieu (overseas Vietnamese) in Germany, who was once a designer for Volkswagen, said that imported cars must be better than domestically made ones because Japan, and European countries and the US require high environmental standards (Euro 4) from their automotive manufacturers.
Meanwhile, Vietnam is preparing for applying Euro 2 emission standards from mid-2007. Or in other words, domestically manufactured cars are more likely to pollute the environment.
In a related development, the Ministry of Finance will not change the current tax policy on imported used cars. The current tax policy is attributed to the stagnation in Vietnam’s automotive market.
According to Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA), sales by 11 operational foreign-led carmakers, which are dominating Vietnamese auto industry, were down 32 per cent to 6,700 units in the first four months of this year.
VietNamNet
Vietnamese
