AsiaNet-Pakistan Premier Editorial Content and Press Release Distribution Service
Karachi, October 17, 2012 (PPI-OT): Worried by rise in shipments of radioactive used cars from Japan to a number of countries, Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM) has asked the government to install radiation testing equipments at ports to ensure radiation-free vehicles import into Pakistan.
“More and more products with dangerously high levels of radiation are being shipped to several ill-regulated markets, including Pakistan. This is especially the case with used vehicles, which are hardly subjected to the same level of safety testing as brand new vehicles, prior to shipment,” PAAPAM Chairman Munir Bana said. “In Chile, port workers and custom agents staged a protest, pressing their government to destroy imported vehicles found with traces of radiation.”
He said that Russian government has so far denied entry to about 300 cars proven to come from the nuclear explosion district and found with very high levels of radiation. Quoting reports, Mr Bana said that fraudulent Japanese used-car dealers were selling vehicles “exposed to dangerously high levels of radiation to unsuspecting buyers.”
He said that car dealers who often export used vehicles to Russia and Southeast Asia are having shipments to those countries refused because of high radiation levels. Customs authorities in Russia have turned away hundreds of vehicles that were shipped to their country by Japanese used car dealers, he added.
“I am sure all these cars will be shipped to Pakistan as no one will check them here and people will buy them with their eyes closed”, he pointed out.
Chairman PAAPAM said that the local industry has been asked to upgrade to EURO II emission standards on the one hand but five to seven years old vehicles are being freely imported and no checks have been carried out on their emission or safety standards.
Bana observed that majority of the vehicles are not in the ownership of overseas Pakistanis and these are just being picked up and reconditioned in lots from scrap yards, which had accumulated thousands of tsunami water damaged vehicles. These vehicles are being given almost free of cost as the Japanese government wants to get rid of this junk, he added.
PAAPAM Vice Chairman Usman Malik observed that Japanese used car dealers who can’t export radioactive cars overseas are dumping them into the Japanese used car market. These cars have failed Japan’s dockside radioactive export tests.
“If a car gives off a high radioactivity count, it’s too much trouble to decontaminate it. It’s better to just sell it in a Japanese car auction where there are no restrictions.”
He said that even the governments of Kenya and Tanzania, who unable to afford the high cost of testing all incoming vehicles, have also banned the import of cars from Japan into their markets.
Moreover, Uganda National Bureau of Standards after random scientific tests as well as motor vehicle inspection records, reported that many used motor vehicles destined for export markets from Japan are contaminated with significantly high level of ionizing radiation, Usman added.
For more information, Contact:
Chairman
Syed Nabeel Hashmi
Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM)
16-B, Westwood Colony, Thokar Niaz Baig, Lahore
Tel # +92 42 37498474-5
Fax #+92 42 37498476
Cell: +92 333 4372500
E-mail: paapam@brain.net.pk; chairman@paapam.com