Government passes Clean Vehicle Standard Bill

As indicated last week, modifications to the Land Transport Act and specifically the Clean Vehicle Standard means the government can make changes to emissions targets more easily. A review of the Clean Vehicle Standard is currently in progress.

The Clean Car Importer Standard must be able to change to ensure Kiwis have access to the types of vehicles they want to buy, Transport Minister Simeon Brown said. 

The Standard regulates vehicle importers to reduce CO2 emissions to specified targets. To that end, high emitting vehicles incur charges, while vehicles with low emissions ganrner credits.

“The current targets should ensure that New Zealand has an affordable mix of clean vehicles, but the settings put in place by the last Government were set without any ability for review, regardless of the cost they might put on consumers.

“The Government’s changes mean that in the future, the Clean Car Importer Standard will be able to be set by regulation rather than altered through legislation, which can take a long time. It also ensures that the Standard operates on a user-pays model to minimise costs to taxpayers.”

The Government is undertaking a review of the Clean Car Importer Standard’s emissions targets.