The international trade in second-hand vehicles has been growing very rapidly in the last decade. In 1997, the worldwide flow of second-hand vehicles was of 1.2 million units and had jumped to over 4.7 million just 10 years later. This trade has significant impacts for health, road safety, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

The objective of the present study is to establish a series of policy actions that can be used to counteract the negative impacts of the trade of older vehicles across international borders. In order to achieve this, Chapter 4 will describe the international trade in second-hand vehicles and its evolution over the last years. This will include a description of source and destination countries, as well as a discussion of exceptions. It will also include a brief section on the elements structuring the international flow of vehicles, and will close with an overview of the effects of international agreements.

You can download the document here: Policy handbook for the regulation of imported second-hand vehicles