The Malaysian Ministry Of International Trade And Industry (MITI) clarifies some rules on Electric Vehicle (EV) imports.
Earlier this year, the Malaysian government decided to incentivise the sale of electric vehicles in the country by temporarily exempting these cars from road tax, and from excise and import duties.
Paired to the ongoing sales and service tax exemption on new cars, and you have yourself a very competitive market for new EVs.
However, with any loophole that brings a new competitive advantage, there will be parties looking to exploit this. As such, MITI has this week answered some questions that were put to it regarding the sale of new and used electric vehicles. The questions appear to be submitted by PEKEMA, which are the importer and seller of used reconditioned vehicles in Malaysia.
The first question they answered was regarding which electric vehicles could be imported with the tax exemption. MITI’s answer was that they don’t have a restricted list of vehicles.
As long as the EV meets the international standard that has been set, namely UNR100 for electric cars and UNR136/MS2413/MS2688 for electric bikes, they will be eligible for the tax exemption.
The second question was regarding official guidelines on documentation and tariff codes for dealings with the Royal Malaysian Customs and the Road Transport Department.
To that question, MITI said that Open AP companies must submit their application for approval in a TIMELY MANNER with the following information:
- Confirmation of classification code by the Royal Malaysian Customs;
- Country of origin (manufacturer);
- Technical specifications of the vehicle;
- Pictures;
- Estimated selling price;
-Copy of United Nations Regulations No. 100 (for electric cars); and
-United Nations Regulations No. 136 or MS 2413 or MS 2688 (for motorcycles
electric).
MITI says it will then get confirmation from the Malaysian Automotive Robotics and Internet of Things Institute (MARii) on whether the vehicle in question is from a recognised EV brand. (Is MARii still relevant after the recent corruption issue?)
They say that this final part of the equation applies only to EVs from brands from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and other countries that market vehicles that don’t conform to the UN standards regulations.
It must be NOTED that this does not apply to EVs from popular brands such as Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Audi, MG, Honda, Ford, BMW and Nissan as these brands will have no problem getting their Vehicle Type Approval from the Road Transport Department.
They also added that the first company to apply for an AP for an EV model that has not been processed by MITI must also submit a copy of the VTA (which comes after the vehicle is imported and tested by the Road Transport Department).
