The car import law will be notified to the government soon
According to Eqtesadonline, quoted by ISNA, in late June 2009, the Islamic Consultative Assembly approved a plan to reorganize the car. Clause 4 of this decree is related to the conditional import of cars, which was challenged by the Guardian Council in June of the following year (early June 2016) and returned to the parliament to review and resolve the objections, and has had various visits and comments so far.
Finally, yesterday (Saturday), the spokesman of the Guardian Council announced that the council does not oppose Article 4 (the issue of car imports) and the objections have been resolved; But the plan has returned to parliament. Meanwhile, on November 17 of this year, after several months of discussions on liberalization or the continuation of the car import ban, the car import liberalization plan was approved with an amendment to satisfy the Guardian Council, subject to the export of cars or car parts. According to the members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, any natural or legal person can import cars to regulate the market in exchange for the export of cars or car parts.
In this regard, last night, the head of the Industries and Mines Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and Farbod Zaveh, an expert in the country’s automobile industry, attended a special news talk show to discuss the issue of car imports. In this program, the Deputy Minister of Industry of the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade also had a video communication and commented.
With the approval of the Guardian Council, the plan to import another car will be announced by law
Ezatullah Akbari Talarpashti – Chairman of the Industries and Mines Committee of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, at the beginning of the program, in response to why the plan has returned to the Assembly despite the council’s opposition to the import of cars, said: The plan to liberalize car imports belongs to the 10th Assembly But when the objections were taken to paragraph 4 and returned to the parliament, the life of the tenth parliament ended and it hit the eleventh parliament. Our effort in the Eleventh Parliamentary Commission was to present a more comprehensive plan, but legally, what had returned from the Guardian Council had to be answered, and of course only to the same objection, and there was no permission to add or subtract an issue. Finally, with the presence of the spokesman of the Guardian Council as the representative of this council in the commission, we held meetings and reached a conclusion.
He added: “After several round trips to the commission and the parliament, the plan finally came to the conclusion that the import of cars in exchange for the export of cars, car parts and foreign currency of foreign origin approved by the Central Bank. ; But the governor of the central bank stated in a letter to the speaker that the central bank could not confirm the source of the currency; This issue was also strange for us, but at the request of the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, this clause was omitted and removed. Finally, according to the statements of the representative of the Guardian Council that the plan was approved by the Guardian Council, the plan to import cars will be returned to the parliament for notification and will be approved by law.
We do not accept third party authority in legislation
He reminded that the entry of the Expediency Council into this plan is new in our opinion: in the previous stage, even the Expediency Council had announced to the Guardian Council that some clauses of the car import plan are unconstitutional. The legislative procedure is such that what is approved in the parliament goes to the Guardian Council, in which it is commented that it is not contrary to Sharia and the constitution, and we do not accept a third authority in the legislation.
The head of the Parliamentary Committee on Industries and Mines, while emphasizing that the legislator is wise and makes opinions and makes laws in all respects, said: “But how this law is implemented is within the scope of the government’s duties.” In general, however, in all products, there is a formula that the Industries Commission insists on, and that is that every product must be technology-based and export-oriented. If it is export-oriented, it is capable of continuity and durability, but otherwise it will decline.
Large automobiles have become the backyard of governments
He added: “But in the discussion of cars, the problem is another place, which is the problem in the structure of two large car manufacturers, which are considered as the most important car manufacturers in the country and have been the backyard of governments for years.” Governments have many interventions in this area, which of course is not specific to this government, and the thirteenth government intends to reform these matters and not interfere in this area.
Akbari Talarpashti stated: The government’s share in Iran-Khodro Industrial Group is six percent, but it has a very high interference in its affairs, which causes the structure to collapse. If the carmakers are to become state-owned, make it clear to the people; Otherwise the structures must be modified.
The head of the Parliamentary Committee on Industries and Mines, while emphasizing that we should involve the private sector as much as the government and pay attention to them, said: “We have a growing private sector, but they are not given a chance.” At present, the two major car manufacturers have a total accumulated loss of about 100,000 billion tomans, which not only the car industry, but also destroys every industry. The principle of the parliament’s objection to the structure must be reformed.
He continued: “If we bring the private sector to the forefront, the problems will be solved not only in the automotive sector, but in the entire economy.” The government should not interfere and not compete with the private sector, the government should have support, guidance and supervision.
Akbari Talarpashti regarding the export of fake cars and auto parts, said: If we want to have a share in the global market in the future and have a dynamic economy, we must move export-oriented. To say that if exports are made, some people will cheat, is in the field of implementation and these cases are not in the field of expertise; Therefore, the government must control.
The head of the Parliamentary Committee on Industries and Mines, regarding the forecast of the number of vehicles that will be imported with this financing mechanism, said: “At the moment, it is not possible to provide an exact number and this issue must be answered by executive officials in the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade.” . A law has now been enacted that will pave the way for us to be present in the global market and for our production to be able to be marketed in the global market.
He noted: this law will be implemented and the Ministry of Silence will write only the executive regulations. Rules must be set, the country must be ready for import and the way must be opened for participation in world markets. The legislator wants to open the way wisely.
The new law will allow fake exports
In the continuation of this program, Farid Zaveh, an expert in the automotive industry, also stated in connection with this plan and the ambiguities related to the automobile import plan: The entry of the Expediency Council into the subject has been a kind of innovation in legislation. In fact, banning the import of cars is a kind of heresy. Under the car import law, it could eventually have high tariffs so that the government could protect its foreign exchange resources or ban imports for a short period of time. Therefore, it was not legally forbidden by the parliament to want to be legally released by the parliament.
He added: “This law is to regulate the market, and market regulation also refers to the issue of numbers.” At equilibrium, when the supply of goods decreases, so does the price. The only way to regulate the market is to increase supply, regardless of the performance of the order, which has no consequences and no product can be kept at a low price by order.
This automotive industry expert pointed out: In the initial law written in 2009, it emphasized on increasing supply, which is one of the ways to increase supply; It was imports, but what happened was that the same increase in supply was linked to domestic production, which also had a shortage.
Costs from people’s pockets by connecting imports to exports
Zaveh considered the biggest problem of such a project to be the creation of fake exports, which does not lead to economic exports in the country, and said: “Connecting imports to exports means that people will pay extra to make exporters live.” An exporter who does not pay in his market and the tariff that is not paid can not compete, will be re-rented in this way and will not be able to compete.
He stressed that the price of having a share of global markets can not be paid from the pockets of 80 million people and the main problem of this project is in this regard, noting that these people have a certain financial ability and those who can buy imported cars , To be 70,000 people annually. This import method would certainly be inappropriate, but if it were to be linked to total exports, it would make sense; But in an industry like the auto industry, where exports are not economical at all, and the same $ 40-50 million is mostly political, they are subsidized and they are losing money.
Zaveh added: “We feel that this law will ultimately lead to the profit of the component maker and is not controllable.” The maximum total export to the country according to customs statistics is $ 50 million, with a ceiling of $ 40,000, about 1,200 units will be imported; If there is no $ 40,000 ceiling, it will not reach 600 units.
He noted: “As soon as the law is implemented, it will be announced that $ 500 million worth of parts have been exported, which will not be true.” According to the documents, the export was done correctly and the part was produced, but the export may be fake and the metals may be smelted in other countries. Certainly importers and parts manufacturers have to export that the part is out of date to use its remittance for import.
The automotive industry expert stressed: “It would have been better to limit these exports to the component maker in exchange for imports, so that the component maker would be allowed to source its foreign exchange source from its exports.” The car importer also imported cars from any export route.
Plan to increase car production by 50% by 1401
In the continuation of this program, Mehdi Sadeghi Niaraki – Deputy Minister of Industry Affairs of the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade – in a video communication, presented a report on car production and imports over the past decade, and said: the highest number of cars produced in the country, In 1396 and equivalent to one million and 440 thousand units and also in 1390 equivalent to one million and 420 thousand units of passenger cars without including the van. The highest amount of car imports was in 1393, when about 103 thousand units were registered. In 2017, about 68,000 vehicles were imported; Therefore, with one million and 440 thousand production units that year, which was 250 to 300 units in ckd, a total of one million and 550 thousand vehicles have been marketed in the country.
He added: “Therefore, the maximum number of cars that entered the country was 100,000 units and our maximum production was 1.4 million units.” Annually, there is about 1.5 million units of effective demand in the country, and this year we have about one million units of production plans, and for next year, a growth of about 50% in car production is expected from increased production and also by private automakers.
The official in the Ministry of Silence clarified: Article 4 of the law deals with the issue of market regulation and the amount of imports. Of course, the amount of exports is also important; Because as far as exports are concerned, there is permission to import and there is no other way to import cars.
He stressed that the current demand for cars in the country is false and speculative: if the price of cars becomes real, many of these demands will not exist in the market. But if we consider the amount of demand as the same 1.5 million units, we have to wait to determine how many we will produce and how much we can export. As mentioned, we have a 50% growth plan for production next year. But in 2017, when 1.5 million car parts were offered, car manufacturers offered various conditions and leasing, but no purchase was made; Therefore, effective demand is a number that must be calculated expertly.
The Deputy Minister of Industrial Affairs of the Ministry of Silence in response to the question that given that there is no law banning the import of cars, is Article 4 of the new law to be announced soon to specify the criteria for car imports or imports in general after May Will the month of 1401, when the ban expires (if not renewed) be released? “We do not have a law banning the import of cars,” he said. In June 2016, based on the approval of the Coordinating Council of Heads, the import of 1,500 items of goods was restricted and banned, including a passenger car; So, like other goods for which there is an export and import law and must be controlled according to tariffs, it also includes the car.
He added: “But in the new law, the parliamentary industry commission must announce when this delayed law will be implemented?” What will be the compliance of this law with the approval of the Coordination Council of Heads? But if the decision of the Coordinating Council of the Heads was completed for any reason, the import mechanism would be done through tariff support, and by paying the tariff, the car would be imported as in previous years.
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