Restrictions to the Importation of Motor-Vehicle

The Ministry of Commerce has announced in a letter dated 27 September 2021 to the State Administration Council (SAC) its intention to restrict the importation of motor-vehicles. The relevant details of its proposed restrictions are as follows:

1. The issuance of private (individual) import licenses for motor-vehicles from foreign countries shall be suspended from 27 September 2021;


2. The issuance of show room/retail centre import licenses for motor-vehicles from foreign countries shall be suspended from 1 October 2021. Motor-vehicles that are in transit from a foreign country which have departed the origin country of export before 1 October 2021 shall only be allowed to be imported after the inspection of the original Bills of Lading relating to these motor-vehicles;


3. New applications for show room/retail centre business licenses and import licenses for purposes of carrying out the business shall not be accepted with effect from 1 October 2021;


4. Import licenses for motor-vehicles for purposes of swapping old motor-vehicles as per the old/used motor-vehicle regime implemented by the Road Transport Administration Department shall only be issued to persons holding show room/retail centre licenses; and


5. The import policies for motor-vehicles will only be permitted for new motor-vehicles commencing from 1 January 2022.