A proposed ban on the sale of spare parts from scrapped vehicles has been removed from new National Road Traffic Act regulations in the South African Parliament. It had been proposed that second hand parts sales would be outlawed in the state, but plans have been abolished after serious concerns were raised by MPs.

In the original draft of the regulations the sale of spare parts from deregistered vehicles was banned, effectively wiping out the used car parts market in South Africa. However, the new regulations will now allow for the sale of used parts in “good condition”
Committee chairwoman Ruth Bhengu said: “You would have affected people who are making a living from scrap parts of a car, from selling that, and that kind of a business will go down if everything of a deregistered car cannot be used”.

MP’s argued that original regulations, which were proposed to curb parts theft, would have caused many job losses and the price of new parts to rise.

The story illustrates how legislators in many countries are looking at imposing restrictions on the second hand parts and dismantling markets, often without any genuine understanding of the implications. Interestingly this story from South Africa makes no mention of the huge recycling benefits offered by this important sector.