OREANDA-NEWS. December 23, 2014. The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) has commended the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on its success in issuing the Saudi Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standard (Saudi CAFE) for light-duty vehicles.

The ICCT indicated that this standard is a pioneering model of government achievement considering that it has been developed in an accelerated and efficient manner compared to similar standards that the ICCT has witnessed globally.

“This is a landmark achievement,” said Drew Kodjak, executive director of the ICCT, who noted that this is the first standard of its kind in the Middle East. “It is an excellent example of international alignment.”

The Saudi energy efficiency program has been committed to a comprehensive, thorough and flexible standard, which can be used as a reference by other national governments and opens the door to wider adoption of similar standards across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Also, it shows a purposeful commitment to setting long-term standards and is uniquely innovative in incorporating used imported vehicles – as well as new – something no other country has managed to accomplish.

“The regulatory team clearly did their homework,” said ICCT program director Anup Bandivadekar, who participated in the May 2014 Saudi Energy Efficiency Forum. He also indicated that the standard was developed in a short period of time — less than two years through a small team of experts compared to similar standards observed in other markets, which typically have required five to 10 years of development.

The ICCT team expressed its delight to have cooperated with the technical team addressing the transportation sector in the Saudi Energy Efficiency Program and shared its admiration to the level of ambition, professionalism, comprehensive analysis and thorough outreach in responding to automakers.

Earlier, the Saudi Standards, Meteorology and Quality Organization (SASO) signed memorandums of understanding on Nov. 16 with 78 automakers representing more than 99.95 percent of the light-duty vehicle sales in the Saudi market.

The transportation sector accounts for about 23 percent of the total energy consumption in the Kingdom. The recently-announced standard for light-duty vehicles targets improving the fuel economy in the Kingdom on average by 4 percent annually. This would elevate the Kingdom’s fuel economy for light-duty vehicles from its current level of 12 km per liter to more than 19 km per liter by 2025.

To ensure the effective enforcement of the standard, a working group of four government agencies has been formed to monitor implementation of the standard and the global automotive manufacturers’ commitment to it, while also tracking the improvement of the fuel economy in the Kingdom.

The working group is comprised of: the Ministry of Commerce and Industry; SASO; Saudi Customs; and the Saudi Energy Efficiency Center.