Certificate Document Manipulation
According to Seoul Customhouse and the Ministry of Environment on November 12, they decided to expand the investigation into certificate document manipulation and false reports by three companies -- BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche -- to all import car companies. 20-plus foreign car brands are expected to be subjects of the investigation. Investigators are vowing to root out these practices by broadening the scope of the investigation this time.
The Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) counts sales of 23 brands and 10 importing corporations. Seoul Customhouse and the Ministry of Environment looked into three companies so the subjects of the investigation will increase more than seven-fold. Therefore, the investigation period will more than double and is expected to produce investigation results in the first half of next year. "It took about three months to investigate the companies that were caught this time. Although the scope of the investigation has been broadened, it will take about six months as new subjects of the investigation record small sales,” a related government official said.
Authorities believe that similar acts have already been committed for a long time. Especially, they believe that such practices have been committed mainly by European car companies so they will eradicate such illegal practices altogether. "In the case of Japan, as its certification system is specialized to make public workers to directly check cars and they export their cars after certification, there is no big burden on Korea. The US is a system similar to that of Japan. I think that there is a big possibility that European automakers have committed such misconduct," another official said.
Under consideration is the introducing of a system that can detect the fabrication and falsification of vehicle certification documents. The system filters parts that are manipulated by computers. Currently, the National Institute of Environmental Research under the Ministry of Environment examines reports sent from import car headquarters. However, it is impossible to thoroughly verify a lot of documents because the work is done by hand. Authorities will hold not Korean corporations of import car companies but their headquarters accountable for any fabrication and falsification of certification documents. "After the Volkswagen incident, we made headquarters personnel to confirm certification documents, not Korean corporation personnel," said an official of the National Institute of Environmental Research.