The Georgian Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture has released a statement. This statement will cover the plans and priorities of the ministry that will be executed in the future.
It is to be added that as per the statement of the ministry minimizing air pollution is one of the priority initiatives of environmental policy of the Georgian government. To accomplish these tasks the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture together with the Parliament of Georgia has adopted several regulations and the implementation process that are actively underway.
One of the most important regulations that has been passed to phase out air pollution from the transport sector included the restrictions on the import of vehicles. Similarly, a car whose emission standard does not meet the Euro 5 norm will no longer be registered in Georgia to reduce pollution in the country.
The information about these changes was being provided to the public including car importing companies regularly. The involvement of representatives of the automotive sector was ensured in the process of developing the regulation to address their general demands. Several working meetings were held on this issue and based on the communication with car importers the regulation by the decision of the Georgian government came into force 6 months after its adoption on January 1, 2024.
The statement also covers that the main source of atmospheric air pollution in Georgia’s largest cities and international highways is car emissions. Restricting the registration of cars with high emissions is a very important measure.
The Ministry clarifies once again that the technical regulation will not apply to cars already registered in the country and car export, re-export, and transit. Also these regulations do not apply to a vehicle of historical interest, a sports vehicle not intended for road traffic, and vehicles for fire and/or rescue operations. The regulation for light vehicles comes into effect from January 1, 2024, and for buses and trucks from 2025.
