Euro 5 car emission standards to reduce air pollution across Georgia - PM
PM Garibashvili announced Government plans to introduce the Euro 5 emissions standard for cars in a bid to reduce air pollution across the country. Photo: PM's press office
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Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday announced Government plans to introduce the Euro 5 emissions standard for cars in a bid to reduce air pollution across the country.
The Government Administration cited Garibashvili as saying fuel imports had been limited to conform to the Euro 5 standard over the past few years. The PM however added air pollution remained a “challenge”, with solid particles and nitrogen dioxide being two “problematic and polluting substances” identified in analyses of air quality in the country.
We discussed and decided to introduce the Euro 5 standard for cars in the country. In practical terms, this means that imports of cars produced before 2013 will be restricted. It is our desire and decision that the regulation will come into force for passenger cars from January 1, 2024, and for buses and trucks from January 1, 2025”, Garibashvili said.
The Prime Minister added the new regulations would not affect existing vehicles in the country, or those introduced with re-export and transit purposes.
The measurements of the last four years show us that the main source of air pollution with nitrogen dioxide is this outdated and malfunctioning road transport [...]”, he said, adding 13 out of 25 monitored locations in Tbilisi had detected emissions exceeding regulations.
[I]in these locations, on some streets, the [emissions] are twice the permissible norm [...] This require[s] a timely response”, the Government head added.
Agencies will begin monitoring vehicles for “visible, excessive emissions” in Tbilisi, the nearby city of Rustavi and the western locations of Batumi and Kutaisi this year, Garibashvili also said, and announced an incoming decree prohibiting export of catalytic converters - a vehicle part that limits emissions but has been observed in some cases to be removed from cars to be sold separately.
“[W]e will issue a separate resolution and the export of catalytic converters from the country will be prohibited. It is a sad reality, and in practice we know that cars are stripped of this detail, the catalytic converter, and [the latter are] sold abroad”, the PM pointed out.
Imports of diesel in Georgia will be limited to Euro 5-standard fuel starting this year, in a move aiming to reduce environmental pollution, Nino Tandilashvili, the Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, told Business Media Georgia on Sunday.
Repeat inspections for vehicles across Georgia will involve a fee of ₾30 ($11) for owners of buses and trucks and ₾20 ($7) for light passenger and cargo vehicles starting today, Giorgi Shiolashvili, the Chairman of the Union of Technical Inspection Centres, confirmed on Wednesday.
Regulations on vehicle emissions will be tightened across Georgia starting next year, the country’s Economy Ministry revealed on Thursday, noting the upper limit of carbon monoxide in emissions would be reduced as part of the changes.
Air pollution has decreased in Georgia, reports Head of the Air Department of the National Environment Agency Noe Megrelishvili. Since March 15, air pollutants have not exceeded acceptable levels.
The Government of Georgia has approved a plan for managing atmospheric air quality in the Central Zone of the country for 2023-2025, the Ministry of Environmental Protection announced on Wednesday. The Ministry said the zone was one of six areas designated for the monitoring, with the others comprising the Black Sea, Western, Eastern and Highland zones and the Tbilisi Agglomeration.
The amount of fines issued for violation of parking rules in the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi has increased by 308 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of 2023, local media outlet BPN has reported.
Nino Tandilashvili, Georgia’s Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection, on Thursday announced nine new monitoring stations would be installed across the country to improve air quality monitoring.
Legal and technical aspects of implementation of the 1958 United Nations agreement on production of vehicles and automotive parts in Georgia were discussed in a meeting between the country’s Deputy Economy Minister Guram Guramishvili and representatives of the Sustainable Transport Division of the UN Economic Commission for Europe.