Will the car import regulations be revised?

According to Tejarat News, but as the day passes, the critics of the regulation Car import increase. MPs are also in the circle of critics and it is possible to re-examine the regulations.

According to the world of economics, more than 10 days have passed since the unveiling of the car import regulation, many comments have been made about how foreign brands enter the country. Among them, parliamentarians can be mentioned as the most important and effective critics of the import regulations.

The noteworthy point is that this by-law was prepared in the framework of the law on organizing the automobile industry, which was approved by the Islamic Council in June, and in this law, most of the basic decisions are entrusted to the government in the form of the by-law.

Therefore, due to the dissatisfaction of some House of Nation representatives with the regulations approved by the government board, there is a possibility that this regulation will undergo changes in the implementation committee of the parliament.

Will the car import regulations reach the parliament?

The Board of Review and Compliance of the Government’s Approvals with the Laws is a board that, according to “Principles 85 and 138 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran” as well as the relevant executive regulations, is the advisory arm of the Speaker of the Islamic Council for the proper performance of the duties assigned in the two aforementioned principles of the Constitution.

Based on the law and the previous procedures, this board announces its opinions on the approvals of the government board to the chairman of the parliament, and if the conclusion of the speaker of the parliament is that the approval is in contradiction with the laws, in the correspondence with the president, he requests an amendment and review of the relevant approval.

Now, it seems that the fate of the import regulation is also tied to this board, and if the law enforcement board reaches the conclusion that the regulation Car import It is in conflict with the law of organizing the automobile industry, there will be changes in it.

In other words, due to the dissatisfaction of some representatives, the executive regulation of car import cannot be considered final yet. This is while the deadline for registering importers’ requests has started and as announced by the Ministry of Security, it will continue until September 19, and there are even reports of negotiations with foreign parties.

One of the goals that parliamentarians emphasized and voted for in the automobile industry regulation law is the issue of market regulation through imports.

Now, some representatives believe that the aforementioned regulation cannot achieve the goal mentioned in the Law on Organizing the Automobile Industry due to the limitations it has considered. On the other hand, the importers also believe that with the conditions mentioned in the car import regulations, imports will be practically the monopoly of the manufacturer and nothing will happen to regulate the market.

The difference between the Parliament and the government over the regulation

The price ceiling for imported cars was supposed to be 25,000 dollars for 70-80% of the cars and the rest would be more than this price. However, the car import regulation that was promulgated by the government played a different instrument. The first paragraph of the regulations explicitly set the price ceiling of imported cars at 20,000 euros and also emphasized that priority is given to cars under 10,000 euros.

Another thing that was clearly announced by the representatives before the publication of the regulations was a 10-20% tariff for the import of cars under 10 thousand dollars and a gradual increase for cars with a higher price. According to paragraph two of the car import regulations, the tariff will be completely floating and depending on the opinion of a working group consisting of the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, as well as the Program and Budget Organization for each case.

In addition, according to one of the representatives, there was not supposed to be a currency limit for car imports, but in the car import regulations, we saw a currency limit of 1 billion euros for car imports. Although it should not be forgotten that in the text of Article 4 of the Automobile Industry Organization Law, it is clearly emphasized that the import ceiling must be determined by observing the currency limits, but it did not emphasize the general currency limit for imports.

An important clause of the car import regulations

Article 4 of this law sets a series of frameworks in a very general way Car import Paid. Perhaps, four basic points can be considered as the focus of the clauses of Article 4 of the Vehicle Regulation Law. The first item emphasized by the members of parliament in this law was the issue of market regulation.

This point is exactly the point that the members of the parliament can refer to in the implementation committee of the parliament to consider the executive regulations of car importation to be in conflict with the goals of their approved law; Because, according to the belief of many representatives who have commented on this matter, the aforementioned regulations cannot achieve the goal of regulating the car market.

Among the other points emphasized in the law on organizing the automobile industry, we can mention support for domestic production, having an official representative of a foreign automobile manufacturer, and technology transfer. Although the last item is included in the import regulations, it is a subject that has been criticized by car importers. They believe that with the considered restrictions, no foreign company can be satisfied to sell a limited number of cars to a country and provide its technology to that country.

Regarding the condition of having an official representative of a foreign car manufacturer, the car import regulation is silent and has only emphasized that “the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade in cooperation with the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran (regarding issues related to that bank) will issue executive instructions for this approval, including how to provide And it formulates and communicates currency allocation, technical specifications, after-sales services, technology transfer, and determination of technical and professional qualifications of importers.

Supporting the regulation of car imports from domestic car manufacturers

But the other clause, the support of domestic production, is clearly felt in the import regulation, to the extent that it has brought the objection of the members of the parliament.

Jalil Rashidi Kochi, the representative of Maroodasht, said in this regard: “Unfortunately, this regulation is arranged in such a way that it provides the interests of two car manufacturers. Although our point of view was that the monopoly that exists in the automobile industry should be countered with imports in the first step, but unfortunately the result of this regulation is such that not only this monopoly is not broken, but the interests of these two automobile manufacturers are secured, which is the issue. There is cause for concern.”

According to these cases, it seems that the compliance board can enter into this regulation and by presenting its report to the speaker of the parliament, it can somehow change the direction of the regulation. Qalibaf, as the chairman of the parliament, said that if there is a discrepancy, changes will be made.

Therefore, it can be said that the car import regulation is not final yet. However, it cannot be said that the problem of this difference was due to the regulation of the government. It seems that the parliament did not have enough courage and openness in defining and approving the clauses of Article 4 of the Law on Organizing the Automobile Industry, which deals with the import of automobiles. After changing the clauses of this legal article several times and approving it in the parliament, every time the desired details have been deadlocked by the opposition of the Guardian Council or the Expediency Council.