Parliamentarians on Tuesday sent a bill aiming to beef up existing regulations about vehicle recalls to a plenum vote on Thursday, following the outcry over the dangerous Takata airbags that have reportedly caused at least two deaths so far as the ministry announced a recall for Mazda Demios.

The bill has been fast-tracked so it is voted on this Thursday. It sets out the procedure – and who is responsible for what – when a car part is subject to recall.

The proposed legislation is in line with an EU Regulation on the approval and market surveillance of motor vehicles and their trailers, and of systems, components and separate technical units intended for such vehicles.

Greens MP Stavros Papadouris said that for the bill, MPs got positive feedback from the Road Transport Department (RTD) and the transport ministry.

Under the proposal, every car that arrives in Cyprus must be checked for pending recalls. If none exist, a certificate is issued and the information is relayed to the database of the RTD. The same certification is required whenever a vehicle is transferred from one owner to another.

One of the open questions was how much time will be afforded to replace a car part. In the end, MPs and the ministry decided on three months.

Failure to replace a part under recall will result in the vehicle’s MOT being deactivated.

Once passed, the legislation will take effect as of January 31, 2025.

“So we already have one-and-half months for the market to prepare, and for people and companies to adjust, knowing in advance what the law says,” said Papadouris.

“It will be a strict framework, as we already have two confirmed deaths [from the faulty airbags] and I don’t know if other deaths occurred as well.

“The Takata company went bankrupt in 2018, and the recall goes back even before that. The question is what have we done since 2018… and the answer is nothing really, that’s the truth.”

According to the MP, the upcoming legislation spells out the responsibilities of car dealers and car owners.

Having a car part replaced will be the responsibility of the dealer. Once the dealer does so, they will be compensated by the manufacturer.

In response to a question, Papadouris said he expected many vehicles to be immobilised once the new regulations take hold.

“At the [House transport] committee we asked what is more important – safety or inconveniencing the public. After two deaths, we think it has to be safety.”

RTD director Giorgos Louka suggested adding a clause to the bill mandating that dealers inform car owners of any recalls after a vehicle is registered.

Asked what would happen in cases of dealerships that have since shuttered, Louka said the transport minister would issue a relevant decree. And a new car owner will sign a statement that he/she has no information about a recall and that he/she undertakes responsibility for any risks from driving the vehicle.

Meanwhile in an announcement also on Tuesday, the RTD said that Mazda Demio cars imported from outside the EU are subject to recall over the Takata airbags. In this case, the advisory concerns the airbag on the passenger’s side. More details would follow for the airbag on the driver’s side.

Owners of Mazda Demio must contact the dealer – Geo Pavlides Automotive.

When deployed, the Takata airbag sends shards of metal flying. The defective component has been blamed for the deaths of 24-year-old Kyriacos Oxinos in January 2023 and 19-year-old Styliani Giorgalli.

The Road Transport Department has posted on its website the affected car dealers and car makes. It provides links to the dealers’ websites, where owners can enter their Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) to see whether their car has a Takata airbag. However some of these websites do not have the VIN identification feature.