From 1 September 2013, the NZ Transport Agency’s (NZTA) administration fee for the border inspection of used imported vehicles will reduce from the existing $17.78 +GST to $5.50 +GST.
In January 2012 the border inspection system changed to allow third party inspectors to perform the structural inspection of used imported vehicles. Prior to this change, the then MAF Biosecurity carried out the inspections as part of their routine border security checks. The NZTA collected the fee from vehicle purchasers and paid MAF for their service. However, when vehicle purchasers began selecting and paying an approved third party inspector to perform the inspection, the NZTA decided to leave the regulated fee unchanged while the new system settled in.
“An unexpected increase in the number of imported vehicles combined with the unchanged fee has led to a surplus of $1.15million building up in the border inspection memorandum account,” says Robyn Elston the NZTA’s National Manager Delivery Access and Use.
“We are addressing the issue on two fronts,” says Mrs Elston. “Firstly, we’re introducing an administrative solution that will see us invoice third party inspection agencies the lower fee from 1 September. At the same time the border inspection fee, which is specified in the Land Transport (Certification and Other Fees) Regulations 1999, will be included in a wider review of NZTA fees being carried. This will result in a permanent lowering of the regulated fee.”
The NZTA will invest the surplus in improving the functionality of the NZTA’s border inspection portal. The project will provide approved border inspection agents with direct access to the NZTA’s border inspection database. They’ll be able to upload larger batch files of border inspection results and then search, view and edit inspection records. The system improvements will also allow agents to download photographs of imported damaged vehicles.
“Spending the surplus on improving the system means we can get the project underway sooner than would have been possible under our normal capital expenditure programme. We’re confident all users of the system will benefit from the system enhancement, so it’ll be a win-win for everyone,” says Mrs Elston.
The project is expected to get underway later this year and will be completed during 2014.
