The terms of reference for the three-member committee appointed to investigate the import of vehicles with potentially defective airbags from was published on Friday.

The committee, which is chaired by former Supreme Court judge Michalakis Christodoulou and is also made up of Bar Association chairman Michael Vorkas and Audit Office member Theodosios Hadjimichail, will first convene on April 3 at the Press and Information Office (PIO) building. Their meetings will be open to the public.

The committee is mandated to “conduct a full and thorough investigation with the purpose of verifying all the circumstances, events, actions, acts, or omissions, decisions, and responsibilities, as well as the verification in European Union or international law, in relation to the placing on the Cypriot market of vehicles from the EU and third countries”.

Additionally, the committee will investigate the recall of such vehicles between Cyprus’ accession to the EU on May 1, 2004, and the issuance of the first decree by Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades on February 3 this year.

The committee is thus according to its terms of reference “mandated … to investigate the placing on the Cypriot market of vehicles from the EU and the import of vehicles, whether they carry type approval, whether they carry individual approval, or whether they do not carry any approval at all”.

It will also investigate the regulations and procedures followed in Cyprus regarding the recalls of vehicles originating in other EU member states and third countries, as well as “the events, circumstances, and reasons which led to the issuance of a circular by the road transport department in 2017 about vehicle recalls”.

In addition, it will investigate “whether it was necessary to exercise supervision and whether supervision was exercised … over the placing on the Cypriot market of vehicles from other EU member states and from third countries”.

It will also investigate “the legality or correctness or any control or supervision mechanisms, if there were any”, operated and administered by any public sector body.

The committee’s three members will be “called upon to investigate the manner of the reaction, the actions of omissions of any person including but not limited to distributors, manufacturers’ representatives, or importers” over whether the vehicles being imported into Cyprus carried the relevant approvals.

At the end of its mandate, the committee will offer an evaluation and make suggestions on ways to improve the legislative and regulatory framework, including existing legislation, as well as the method of its implementation, with the aim of avoiding similar issues in the future.

Throughout the course of the committee’s mandate, any person who believes they have knowledge or information on issues related to the committee’s work is asked to inform the committee’s secretariat by March 31.

Additionally, any person whose conduct is the subject of the committee’s investigation or who may be involved in any way in the issues under investigation is entitled to be represented during the committee’s meeting by a lawyer.

The issue of airbags stems from the production of faulty airbags manufactured by Japanese company Takata. The company’s airbags suffer a fault related to exposure to high levels of heat or humidity, which means they have a tendency to explode when released under such circumstances.

This explosion shoots the airbag’s metal inflator outwards and in the direction of the person it was designed to protect, potentially causing further injuries or, in some cases, death.

Vafeades had at the start of February decreed the recall of over 80,000 cars which are fitted with potentially fatal Takata airbags, all of which are to be replaced over a period of eight months. Exactly 276 vehicles were immobilised immediately, and as such have had their road tax and MOT certificates rescinded.

The issue of faulty Takata airbags has been ongoing for over two years, with it believed that the death of 24-year-old Kyriakos Oxinos in January 2023 was caused in part by a faulty airbag.

More recently, it is now believed that the death of 19-year-old Styliani Giorgalli in October may have been caused by a faulty Takata airbag.