Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia

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The Government of Georgia decided to implement the Euro 5 car emission standards to reduce air pollution across the country.

''One of the top priorities of environmental policy is to reduce air pollution. In this respect, the Ministry, in collaboration with the Parliament of Georgia, adopted the most important regulations, and the adoption-implementation of these regulations is currently actively underway," Mr. Otar Shamugia stated at the end of the government session.

According to the Minister, the National Environmental Agency of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture regularly monitors the air quality. Furthermore, the Ministry continued its efforts toward deploying continuous self-monitoring systems to control the emission of hazardous substances into the atmospheric air by industrial companies. Currently, 20 large enterprises out of 50 are registered in the electronic register system, and most of the remaining companies are installing filters and monitoring systems.

''Our goal is to equip all large industrial enterprises in the country with modern filters and online monitoring systems by the end of the year, which is an important prerequisite for reducing air pollution from the industrial sector. Furthermore, the new draft law on industrial emissions, which is currently under consideration at the parliament of Georgia, is another significant step forward in this direction" stated Mr. Otar Shamugia.

Under the decision of the Government of Georgia, the technical regulation" On the Introduction on the Territory of Georgia the limit values provided by EU legislation for emissions (exhaust gasses) from different types of vehicles and other mobile and mechanical means polluting ambient air with harmful substances" was adopted.

 From January 1, 2024, the import of cars produced before 2013 will be restricted to gradually reduce air pollution from the transport sector across the country. 

Emission limit norms corresponding to the Euro 5 standard are allowed for cars. If a vehicle emission standard does not meet the Euro 5 norm, it may no longer be registered in a country. Registration (import) is only permitted from countries implementing Euro 5 and other higher standards.
In recent years, the share of car imports from the aforementioned countries in total has been around 98%. Therefore, automobile importers will not have to transition to new markets.

The regulation applies to light and heavy passenger vehicles (including buses and minibusses) and light and heavy goods vehicles (i.e. initial and temporary registration of vehicles of categories M1, M2, M3, and N1, N2, N3). The regulation applies to most countries of the world, including all neighboring countries. The mentioned regulation will bring the country closer to European standards," said Mr. Otar Shamugia.
The technical regulation does not apply to vehicles already registered in the country and the export, re-export, and transit of vehicles. Also, it does not apply to a vehicle of historical interest, a sports car not intended for road use/traffic, or vehicles intended for fire and rescue operations. 

The regulation for cars will come into force from January 1, 2024, and for buses and trucks from 2025.
According to the decision of the Government of Georgia, the export of so-called waste - a catalytic converter will be temporarily prohibited, which will reduce the removal of so-called catalysts from cars for sale and will contribute to the reduction of atmospheric air pollution from car exhaust.
To prevent air pollution from motor vehicles, monitoring vehicles for "visible, excessive emissions" will start this year on the roadways ny using a specific technology.

''A draft amendment to the Code of Administrative Offenses of Georgia was developed and is currently under consideration at the Parliament of Georgia; the law will provide vehicle emissions control on the roads (by using special equipment) from the second half of 2023. We believe that jointly, all actions will yield a positive result, which will improve the air quality and at the same time will contribute to the road safety across the country," Mr. Otar Shamugia said.