TIRANA, 09/24 – Albania is planning an import ban for all vehicles that are more than 10 years old and that do not meet the Euro 5 emissions standards introduced in the EU at the end of 2009.
The draft decision, which is due to come into force in January 2019, aims to reduce pollution from car exhaust, which is one of the main causes of high levels of air pollution in the country with negative effects on people and the environment. The initiative also aims to gradually rejuvenate the country’s vehicle fleet, which is currently 20 years old, to double the average age of cars in the EU.
While the draft decision does not affect cars already in service, it does affect dozens of used cars that have already been cleared, but have no license plates and taxes paid, and are waiting to be sold in the used car market which makes up the staggering 95 percent of sales in the country. About 60,000 such cars have a 5 month period to be given license plates.
However, the decree allows the importation of vehicles manufactured until 1970 for museum, collection or humanitarian purposes. Smaller goods and passenger vehicles with a maximum mass of 3.5 to 5 tons, which must not be older than 15 years before being registered in Albania, are also excluded.
When the legislative initiative was introduced on September 22, World Car Free Day, Environment Minister Blendi Klosi said Albania would join the regional EU accession countries and ban the import of vehicles that are more than ten years old.
Albania has been gradually applying the EU standards for car emissions since the end of 2016. This has resulted in many car owners installing new catalytic converters to meet emissions standards in order to pass their annual mandatory engineering control tests.
It is estimated that only 3.3 percent of the vehicles in the country, around 14,000, meet the Euro 5 and Euro 6 emissions standards that have been in force in the EU since the end of 2009 and 2014, respectively, which is a major contributor to air pollution in the country.
According to a 2016 air quality report by the European Environment Agency, air pollution figures in Albania are still among the highest in Europe.
In 2016, around 2,120 people died from air pollution in Albania, of which 2,010 were victims of high airborne particulate matter, 10 to nitrogen dioxide and 100 to ozone, the report said.
Local authorities say Tirana has the worst air quality among Albanian cities as traffic, construction and high density of housing all contribute to poor air quality. In the southeastern city of Korà§a, Albania’s coldest major city, air pollution has risen in winter due to the use of coal and wood for heat generation, says Albania’s National Environment Agency.
Albania had around 535,570 vehicles in 2017, but only 421,570 have undergone mandatory technical inspection, according to the country’s Transport Institute.
With an estimated 15 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants, the Balkan country has one of the highest number of traffic accidents in Europe. About 2,000 road accidents occurred last year with a death toll of 222, the lowest level in six years if data are available.
Experts blame reckless driving, poor road infrastructure and the lack of traffic signs for the high number of accidents.
Comments are closed.