Comparison of the Waste and Air Management Policies between South Korea and Uganda

Many low-income countries around the world rely on age-based import restrictions to reduce the inflow of old, highly polluting used vehicles.These policies are particularly important as they are typically one of only few policies to curb local vehicle emissions.• This study examines the impact of one such policy in Uganda -a tariff called the "environmental levy"by analysing imports and first-time registrations surrounding the sharp increase of this levy in July 2015.• The study finds that the environmental levy is effective in reducing imports of vehicles in the targeted age groups.• It also shows, however, that the levy's effectiveness is undermined by two key factors.First, the existing vehicle inventory among intermediary traders acts as a buffer, so that overall first-time registrations are unaffected by the policy in the short run.Second, there is evidence of end-users' substitution towards even older vehicles following the levy increase.• These findings point to highly progressive levies or outright bans (as recently implemented in Uganda) for an effective policy.In addition, these are ideally complemented by domestic regulation to reduce the adverse effect of substitution towards vehicles already in country.