Ban on used-tyre imports
Published:Friday | June 18, 2010 | 12:00 AM
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce has placed a ban on the importation of used motor vehicle tyres effective July 1, six months after relaxing the rules in an effort to clear a 6,000 backlog at the wharves.
The number of tyres sitting on the ports have since tripled.
The ban will remain in place until an importation standard that is being developed by the Bureau of Standard of Jamaica (BSJ) is complete, Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Karl Samuda said Tuesday.
"Because we are not in a position now to say we have a standard to properly secure the safety of the motoring public and to curtail further importation without the standard, I have ordered a ban on further importation until the standard is complete," he said. "So no one will be permitted to have used tyres for vehicles and light carrier units cleared from the wharves if it arrives later than July 1."
The BSJ is responsible for inspecting and determining what second-hand tyres are safe for Jamaican roads.
The importation of used tyres from Japan is a growing business in Jamaica, with some 20 importers engaged in the trade. At last count, there were some 18,000 used tyres that have been inspected by the standards agency, but were still sitting on the wharf. The uninspected volumes were not disclosed.
Kenute Hare, director for the Road Safety Unit and chairman of the technical committee for used pneumatic tyres, which is drafting the standards, argued that the regulation must also address the local used tyre dealers whom, he said, are unregulated. "Presently there is nothing in place to determine the depth of the used tyre market, as is the case in Trinidad, New Zealand and the United Kingdom," said Hare.
"The standard being worked on is geared towards, above anything else, the safety of the road user, and will also take a look at new tyres as well."
The drafting of the new standards was said to be about 90 per cent complete, and will require traders to obtain a special licence to import used tyres.