Deputy Agriculture Minister visits Toyota, says fuel emission standards should be established

Fuel emission standards will be established and the import of vehicles will gradually meet European norms, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Nino Tandilashvili stated during her meeting with Toyota Motor Europe head office employees on June 7.

Toyota is one of the world’s largest vehicle production companies with 340,000 employees and 69 manufacturing companies worldwide.

The meeting was held on Friday, June 7. Photo: Ministry of Agriculture and Environment Protection. 

Toyota employees have provided the Georgian official with information on their international experience regarding fuel emission and vehicles’ import.

Nino Tandilashvili stated old vehicles are the main air pollutants in Georgia.

The replacement of vehicles with environmentally friendly ones will lead to the significant improvement of air quality,” she said.

Air quality is a continual subject of concern for the residents of Georgia, especially in cities.

The fifth air monitoring station installed on May 7 in Tbilisi. Photo: National Environment Agency. 

In January 2019 the National Environmental Agency of Georgia conducted tests that showed the concentration of four pollutants in the atmosphere in Tbilisi, Batumi, and Kutaisi to be within normal levels, except for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and solid particle (PM10) concentrations.

The concentration of nitrogen dioxide observed on Tsereteli Avenue in Tbilisi was found to be 1.4 times higher than the annual average. On Abuseridze Street in Batumi, the NO2 concentration was 1.6 times higher than the annual average", NEA said.

Eight air quality monitoring stations function in Georgia out of which one is mobile. The monitoring results are available at air.gov.ge.