WELLINGTON: New Zealand has strict and effective controls over imported vehicles and has not suffered from a widespread “influx of lemons”, radioactive cars or other disasters that Australian automotive dealers have warned will happen if import laws are relaxed here.
All vehicles in New Zealand, which allows mass importation of used vehicles, were inspected for damage by border control and each vehicle was then subject to a further “invasive structural inspection”, the New Zealand government said.
“This ensures that all vehicles entering New Zealand have been appropriately checked and are safe before they enter use,” a spokesman for the New Zealand Transport Agency said.
If vehicles were assessed by a specialist repair certifier to have “minor” damage on importation, they could be repaired for use, but the car’s history would be recorded on the NZ Traffic Authority’s register, which operates in a similar way to Australia’s Remote Electronic Verification System.
