TEHRAN, Iran, Feb.14
Trend:
Iran's policy to release imported vehicles has not been implemented so far, said the head of Import Supreme Council.
Alireza Monaghebi has discussed the auto import situation in an interview with Trend.
"The auto import ban has not only put financial pressure on people; there are individuals who abused the situation for their own gain, while others claim that they increased employment in auto industry," Monaghebi said.
"To facilitate the release of imported autos from the customs, the government has issued an instruction that autos that have remained at the customs for more than two years should be imported to the country based on official foreign currency rate," the official added. "However, the implementation of the regulation had its own issues, and the vehicles are still kept in the depot."
After the ban on auto import, the Iranian government has tried to implement measures to release the piled up vehicles from the customs. Total of 12,261 vehicles were held at the customs due to foreign currency rate changes.
The officials have eventually issued a bill to release 7,153 vehicles in six months deadline, while 5,108 cars remain at the customs.
After months of negotiations between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance and the Central Bank of Iran, the government finally changed the conditions of releasing the imported vehicles.
Iran has banned the import of more than 1,500 non-essential items amid the U.S. sanctions on its oil exports and due to shortage of foreign currency.