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MOT-style tests could still be years away after a second deadline for their introduction has passed.
Guernsey and Jersey pledged to introduce the checks as part of post-Brexit work to ensure that local vehicles could continue to drive in Europe.
They are a requirement of the Vienna Convention that was extended to the islands.
Guernsey had expected to introduce testing by April 2023 as part of a phased approach, but in July 2022 E&I president Lindsay De Sausmerez blamed Covid for delaying the project, saying she was “confident” a new timeframe of April this year would be met.
That has now passed with no fresh public commitment to timescales, although Jersey has now confirmed it has reset its date for 31 March 2028.
Recently, E&I vice-president Adrian Gabriel said it had completed liaising with the motor industry and would consider a report taking in their feedback.
“Our ambition is to have the scheme up and running as soon as is practical.”
Before the convention was extended, Guernsey was required to commit to a date in law for the introduction of mandatory periodic technical inspections of motor vehicles.
E&I has yet to respond to Express on how this requirement has been dealt with given the missed deadline.
Jersey has made an order under the Road Traffic law that resets the date for inspections to 31 March 2028.
The initial checks were for all cars more than five years old.
“We are not ready and I don’t think we will be ready for some time,” Jersey’s Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan told the Jersey Evening Post, adding that the revised date gave them “something to work towards”.
However, the minister hinted that the new timescale – which he described as providing “no rush” – also gave the opportunity for the government to explore whether there were any alternatives to the compulsory regime of “periodic technical inspections” under the Vienna Convention, which was extended to the island in 2018.
Mr Jehan said that it was necessary to stipulate a revised deadline for the checks in order to ensure that people could continue to take cars into Europe which he confirmed would be unaffected by the new timescale.
In the UK, once a vehicle is three years old, it must pass an MOT test every year.
In France, a Contrôle Technique test must be carried out on vehicles when they reach four years old and this must be renewed every two years.
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