Apostolos Tomaras
The case with the problematic car airbags and the authorities rushing in to try to withdraw vehicles with defective Takata airbags from circulation reveals the enormous responsibilities of those who handled the issue politically and technocratically over the last thirteen years. The haste of the authorities in the face of the not-so-unlikely scenario of avoiding the worst in human casualties cannot be an alibi for gaps and omissions of years, especially when in the rest of the planet other countries showed the necessary reflexes much earlier, significantly limiting the consequences. Moreover, if the events are carefully studied, the responsibilities may go beyond their administrative dimension and turn into criminal ones. As it appears from official documents, the entire control framework, political and technocratic, treated the whole issue lightly and only when two tragic incidents occurred did it rush to do the obvious. Unfolding the events from 2017 onwards, a period during which the problem with Takata had taken on global dimensions, responsibilities are identified in the competent state bodies, such as the Road Transport Department (RTD), the governments that had the political responsibility and the House of Representatives, which, as revealed, dealt with the issue, when the first death from a problematic airbag was officially certified (2023) and which in this case was limited to the reassuring assurances of the authorities that "everything is fine". From the tangle of events it appears that the competent Road Transport Department knew since 2017 that for a large number of vehicles, mainly from third countries, there was no recall register and that the manufacturer's distributors, i.e. the importers of new vehicles, would not proceed with recalls of these specific vehicles if a problem arose.
The public notice
Indicative of the mess that seems to have existed with such a serious issue is a RTD circular dated March 21, 2017. That is, eight years ago. Despite the fact that at that time the issue with the problematic Takata was at its peak, worldwide, with the recall of tens of millions of vehicles, in Cyprus the RTD with a circular on "Vehicle Recalls (Recall of vehicles)" was modifying the procedure for vehicle recalls. The circular describes step-by-step obligations of the "Manufacturer's Distributor", i.e. the official dealerships of new vehicles in the case of recalls. From the circular it appears that for new vehicles imported into Cyprus and those from EU countries there is a recall register, i.e. data, and that the "Manufacturer's Distributor" is responsible for the recalls. On the third page of the circular and under the general description "Other vehicles for which there is NO European Type Approval", i.e. vehicles that are registered in Cyprus as used and come from third countries, outside the EU, the "Distributor" bears no responsibility, i.e. it is not obliged to make recalls.
They knew
This specific section leaves no room for misinterpretation. It states characteristically, "For these vehicles (from third countries) and as long as the Manufacturer's Distributor does not fall within the distribution network of these specific vehicles, the MD is not considered to be responsible because the information on recalls is not addressed by the manufacturer to the MD in Cyprus and additionally neither is the technical guidance and support of the manufacturer provided to the MD in Cyprus for the purposes of taking the appropriate technical measures concerning a possible recall". The circular concludes. "Therefore, to the extent that the aforementioned applies, the MD is not expected to take actions similar to the cases of vehicles that were registered through the network it controls..." And if the rationale of the circular can be considered logical that the MD cannot make recalls for vehicles that it did not import into Cyprus itself and has no data, what cannot be considered logical is what the RTD did to cover the gaps in vehicle recalls that it mentioned in its circular. On this point, the reaction of a member of the Transport Committee to "K" was characteristic. "No one was found among the authorities to ask who would have the responsibility. The answer is no one."
Recall register
The absence of measures for used vehicles from third countries became apparent eight years later and despite the adoption of an EU directive with which the responsibility for recalling vehicles lay with the natural or legal person who carried out the import of vehicles, whether or not they are an official distributor. Based on this specific directive, importers, new or used vehicles, with European standards or from third countries are required to maintain a relevant Register and to make recalls when required. From the events it appears that this did not happen for vehicles from third countries, which together with used vehicles from the EU are estimated at 60% of the vehicles circulating on Cypriot roads. The absence of a Recall Register became apparent when the Ministry of Transport, RTD and Parliament tried to locate vehicles with problematic airbags. The solution was found in New Zealand, which provided its own Recall Register and in which, to a large extent, used vehicles from third countries imported into Cyprus were located. Today, members of the competent Committee of the Parliament assure that there is a complete picture of the used vehicles from third countries circulating in Cyprus and which of them have been recalled.
The minister
In the face of the serious issues that have arisen with the problematic airbags, the government side counters with the timelessness of the issue with government sources, categorically denying that there is an issue of responsibility for the competent minister Alexis Vafeadis. The same sources denied that there is an issue of removing the minister, noting that the government was called upon to manage an issue that has existed for many years and that it managed it decisively in order to prevent further undesirable consequences.
Used vs new
This particular development with the problematic Takata airbags brought to the surface once again a long-standing dispute between official distributors of new cars and used ones from third countries, as well as serious gaps in the legislative framework governing the import of used vehicles. Despite the plausibility of the arguments contained in the RTD circular for the obligations of official distributors, behind their refusal to undertake the recalls of vehicles that are not included in their distribution network, their long-standing dispute with used vehicle importers seems to be maintained, who are treated as competitors since the number of used vehicles in Cyprus is not at all negligible, thus taking a significant share of car sales. Also, another element that raises questions is whether, in addition to the absence of a recall register for used vehicles from third countries, the competent authorities have a complete picture of used vehicle importers. Here, market factors argue that Cyprus has been filled with used car yards, to such an extent that it has been transformed into a "cemetery" of used vehicles from Europe and other countries.
