Word on the street is that Egypt may impose new safety standards and quality control measures on domestically assembled cars. These would be supplemental to a set of 10 quality standards that have been in place for domestic assemblers since their 2010; those regulations cover everything from front lights and airbags to car locks. And the industry is not pleased with the prospects of additional regulations: The measures would greatly increased costs of production on domestic vehicles when they were imposed, said Wael Ammar, head of the Federation of Egyptian Industries’ transportation division, suggesting that the move could add further injury to a sector already reeling from weak sales. He added that the government should better focus its efforts on imposing similar measures on imported cars. The Trade and Industry Ministry had previously said that it could not take such actions as it lacked the ability or framework to impose standards on products manufactured abroad.

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