Commerce Minister Anthony Hylton has defended new provisions in the Motor Vehicle Import Policy in the wake of rumblings in the used car trade. He says there was adequate consultation on the revised policy. The Jamaica Used Car Dealers Association last week declared that its members will not comply with new requirements that they provide warranties for front end and electrical parts on vehicles they sell.The Minister responded to the Association’s concerns last night and emphasized that the policy was geared towards the proctection of consumers. “We have had a long period of experience of the situation (insofar as) it affected the consumers’ interests, and we believe that that requirement, which is graduated, depending on the age of the car, would have taken into consideration, not just the condition of the road, but all the other pertinent comments that would have been made as part of the consultation,” he said.Accordingly, he claimed, all the relevant rights and interests had been balanced in the process.The Used Car Dealers Association believes the Policy will discourage its members from importing popular affordable vehicles, to avoid the risk of paying extensively to change certain parts.In the meantime, Mr. Hylton says the door is still open to members of the used car industry to air concerns about the new Policy.
View the original article here
Hylton defends changes to car import policy
